A startup that uses generative AI to create synthetic data has just nabbed $6 million in Series A funding from United Ventures.
Italian startup Aindo, which launched in 2018, has developed and patented a technology which can generate artificial data, which mimics the characteristics and patterns of the original dataset. This can then be used to train AI models across a range of industries.
“The data has the same utility, but it’s completely new,” said cofounder and CEO Daniele Panfilo.
“It’s also void of sensitive information, so it doesn’t violate GDPR,” Panfilo added, referring to Europe’s strict data-privacy rules.
Data is a valuable currency for AI companies, which require huge datasets to effectively train their models. IBy 2024, 60% of the data used for AI will be synthetic, according to estimates from Gartner.
Aindo’s ultimate goal is to generate this data to help AI adoption, said Panfilo. “We realize that one of the major roadblocks in AI adoption is access to data,” he told Insider.
Europe’s data protection laws also mean that acquiring certain data points – such as medical records or patient details — is difficult. Panfilo’s goal is to “solve the problem of privacy in an elegant way,” so that Aindo’s synthetic datasets are both useful and GDPR-compliant.
The startup sees huge potential for its technology, especially in sectors such as healthcare, finance, banking, and insurance. Currently, as a business-to-business software company, Aindo has a license-based platform. It charges clients according to the amount of data generated, the structure of the data, and various other components. But in the long run, it aims to provide the data as a service across a range of industries.
Generative AI has been a bright spot amid a slump in the wider tech market; Panfilo said that the buzz for the technology did help when fundraising, but the main selling point was that the startup had a recurring customer base.
The Series A funding round was led by Italian venture capital firm United Ventures, which has previously backed Cazoo and Datrix. Additional participation came from existing investor Vertis.
With the cash injection, Aindo — which has “been biased towards technical profiles,” according to Panfilo — will ramp up its marketing and business hires. Its goal is to increase its annual recurring revenue so it can be in a good position to raise another round of funding, and look to expand across the European market.
Check out the 13-slide pitch deck used to secure the fresh funds.
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