Protopia AI Lands $6M Seed Round
Austin, TX-based Protopia AI announced its $6 million seed round, led by ATX Venture Partners.
The company’s software allows companies to use AI and machine learning to extract insights from data without identifying and exposing sensitive information.
Their core technology is based on inventions by Professor Hadi Esmaeilzadeh, endowed chair of computer architecture at the University of California San Diego. Esmaeilzadeh is also Protopia AI’s co-founder and chief technology officer.
Citing an AI Gartner report which found a major problem for using AI is data accessibility, Protopia AI says their patented data-type agnostic solution unlocks the benefits of machine learning that’s typically lost due to lengthy governance protocols and procedures.
“We are at an inflection point where AI has unprecedented capabilities — but at the cost of losing the control and ownership of data,” Esmaeilzadeh said in a company release. “Protopia AI is the vision to enable practical AI without losing the control/ownership of data.”
Funds raised from the round will be used to build out engineering teams and advance the product. The company is currently beta-testing its product across industries where data sensitivity causes the most operational slowdowns, including financial services, government and health care.
Other investors included Galaxy Interactive, Silverton Partners and DNX Ventures. So far, a total of $8 million has been raised, which includes an initial $2 million pre-seed round. All existing investors participated in the new round.