Nationwide Building Society has participated in a $1.8 million seed funding round for a GDPR-compliant data sharing startup spun out of University College London.
Founded just 18-months ago, Hazy's online platform automatically anonymises datasets shared between business entities, using AI to sniff out personal data buried in files.
GDPR legislation means that use of anonymisation tech has become essential for businesses looking to share data for development and analysis or retain for future applications. The company says it is already working with customers ranging from startups to international banks and the UK government.
Nationwide was joined in the round by Pentland, Amadeus Capital Partners, AI Seed and other investors.
The new financing takes Hazy’s total seed funding to $2.8 million following a $1 million investment from M12 and Notion, awarded to the company in May, after Hazy was declared the European winner of global startup competition Innovate.AI.
Hazy is the second startup to benefit from Nationwide's £50 million venture fund, which was launched in June with an initial investment in acasa, a prop-tech startup focused on supporting both landlords and tenants living in shared accommodation with their everyday finances.
Emma Huntington, who leads strategic development, innovation and venturing at Nationwide Building Society said: “By investing in early stage start-ups, like Hazy, we can be at the forefront of helping develop innovative products and services that will benefit our members both now and in the future. We look forward to working with Hazy to help enhance the way we manage our data.’’