This German startup with cutting-edge privacy-preserving data ecosystem draws €2.5M

Right now, a colossal amount of data is being generated (sensitive and personal) through various means including smartphones, IoT devices, connected cars, and more. But due to proprietary or privacy interests, data for tackling essential problems including COVID-19 and climate change can be limited and difficult to access. 

Here comes Apheris, a deep tech company that enables enterprises to collaborate and analyse data securely — without compromising privacy. The Berlin-based company has built a privacy-preserving data ecosystem using cutting-edge technologies created by a team of world-class researchers at the intersection of data privacy, cryptography, and computational sciences.

Raised €2.5M

Recently, the company raised €2.5 million funding led by UK-based seed investor LocalGlobe, with Dig Ventures, the family office of MuleSoft Founder, Ross Mason, and Patrick Pichette, former CFO of Google and current board chairman for Twitter. Other investors include another.vc, System.One, and angel investors Charles Songhurst, NaturalMotion founder Torsten Reil, and Songkick founder Ian Hogarth also participated. 

Aims to address new industry use cases

The deep tech company is planning to use the funding to grow the company, hire world-class talent in engineering, R&D data scientists, and customer success, and address new industry use cases. The German company has raised more than €3.7m, including a StartupSecure research grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for €750,000. 

Robin Röhm, Apheris CEO and co-founder commented, “What this year has crystallised is that the world’s largest problems – from fighting pandemics and disease spread to developing life-saving drugs and reducing climate change – require collaborative efforts to solve. Access to the right data should not be the limiting factor in finding solutions and accelerating R&D and innovation. Apheris is the solution to enabling new ways to solve the complex problems of our time without sacrificing privacy or security.”

Uses cutting-edge technologies

Apheris’s cutting-edge technologies and techniques include decentralised computing, federated learning, and cryptographic protocols to preserve privacy and protect data in environments with zero or low trust.

As per the company claims, international customers are using the platform for drug discovery, new product R&D, and supply chain optimisation to improve business processes, put new products into production, accelerate innovation, and unlock new insights from data. 

Ross Mason, the founder of MuleSoft and Dig Ventures, stated, “Enterprises are sitting on treasure troves of data that cannot be leveraged because it’s been an impossible task to open up data to third-party companies without losing data or diminishing its value. Apheris is taking a novel approach to data collaboration, allowing data to be shared with partners with zero trust, enabling collaboration without giving up or compromising the data.”

Profitable already

Founded by three-time collaborators Robin Röhm and Michael Höh in January 2019, Apheris is based in Berlin and is a team of ten PhDs, data scientists, and engineers, each an expert in their field. Notably, the company is already profitable, working with leading pharmaceutical, chemical, telecommunications, and manufacturing companies.

Julia Hawkins, Partner at LocalGlobe, added, “Apheris is committed to building the next big tech company and has the ambition and team to do it. With its team of global experts in cutting-edge data science, cryptography, and privacy, Apheris has the potential to be the new standard for data collaboration that preserves privacy and security while enabling new insights and innovation.”

Main image credits: Apheris