Aircloak closes seed investment
Various technology developments have led to the birth of Big Data; organizations collecting, analyzing and sharing increasing amounts of information – much of it unstructured and personal data. This resulted in increased data security risks such as exposing Personally Identifiable Information (PII). At the same time companies are faced with ever increasing regulatory pressure, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which comes into effect in May 2018 and includes penalties that can reach €20 million or 4% or annual global turnover – whichever is higher. GDPR applies not just to European companies, but to companies globally that collect personal information in Europe. In fact, GDPR compliance is a top data protection priority for 92% of US organizations, according to a recent PwC survey. What’s needed are secure, automated and easy to manage technology solutions that protect privacy by design.
For marketers, data analysts, and privacy professionals, Aircloak’s solution enhances data privacy protection, simplifies regulatory compliance processes, and reduces compliance costs. In addition, the solution allows for higher quality analytics and real-time insights as (structured and unstructured) data does not need to be anonymized prior to analysis or machine learning. The technology behind Aircloak Insights allows even tightly regulated companies such as financial services organizations, healthcare companies, communications providers and data brokers to:
- Combine sensitive/private data from multiple (third party) sources for higher quality insights
- Securely share fully anonymized real-time analytics with customers and partners
- Have a transparent, future-proof and fully compliant solution that meets regulatory requirements
Together, these leads to one-click access to useable anonymous data.
To build trust with customers and partners, Aircloak has published its Diffix methodology for public review. In addition, the French data protection authority CNIL evaluated Aircloak’s solution and determined that it satisfies the criteria GDPR-level anonymization.
Aircloak’s objective is to help customers gain high-quality and real-time insights from strongly anonymized data, not pseudonymized data sets, in the most secure and compliant way. We continue to enable new use cases as we engage more customers and in the process, help our customers reduce their costs and complexity of compliance.
Felix Bauer
Co-founder and CEO of Aircloak
Aircloak has advanced research findings from the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems and created a sophisticated yet easy-to-use solution that provides customers with maximum data security and privacy protection.
Dr. Florian Kirschenhofer
Start-up & Portfolio manager at Max Planck Innovation
About Max Planck Innovation
Max Planck Innovation is responsible for the technology transfer of the Max Planck Society and, as such, the link between industry and basic research. With our interdisciplinary team we advise and support scientists of the Max Planck Institutes in evaluating their inventions, filing patents and founding companies. We offer industry a unique access to the innovations of the Max Planck Institutes. Thus, we perform an important task: the transfer of basic research results into products, which contribute to the economic and social progress.
www.max-planck-innovation.de
About Aircloak
Aircloak was founded in 2014 by Felix Bauer (CEO), Sebastian Probst Eide (CTO) and Prof. Paul Francis to commercialize and build on privacy protection research done at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems. Today the company has licensed its solutions to financial services organizations and communications providers and works with healthcare organizations.
www.aircloak.com
About Speedinvest
Speedinvest is a venture capital fund founded in 2011 with $100M under management that invests in European early stage technology startups. Besides providing financial investments, Speedinvest actively deploys its network and know-how to support its portfolio companies. Through its Silicon Valley office, Speedinvest operationally supports portfolio companies entering the US market. www.speedinvest.com
About Constantia New Business
Constantia New Business invests in technology startup companies addressing B2B markets with sustainable products, preferably in the fields of information technology and industries/technology fields that are experiencing disruption through IT as well as advanced manufacturing and performance materials.
www.ciag-cnb.at
About Elephant and Castle
Elephant & Castle Capital partners with entrepreneurs and growth companies to provide capital and advice, particularly in the area of intellectual property. The firm can leverage its international network from world leading institutions including Goldman Sachs, Rothschild, McKinsey & Company, Rocket Internet, Eisenführ&Speiser, as well as European private and institutional investors. www.eac.vc