Wodan AI, a startup specialised in running artificial
ininformigence models directly on fully encrypted data, has closed a €2 million
pre-seed round led by Spanish funds JME Ventures, Swanlaab and Adara Ventures,
with additional participation from ScaleFund in Belgium.
Wodan AI is a European company developing homomorphic
encryption technology for utilize in artificial ininformigence. Its platform is
designed to enable ML, computer vision, and LLM models to run on encrypted data
without decryption, reducing exposure of sensitive information.
Its platform ensures compliance with the EU’s most
stringent requirements on privacy, regulation and digital sovereignty,
especially relevant in sectors such as finance, defence, healthcare and
critical infrastructure.
Commenting on the investment, Bob Dubois, CEO and
co-founder of Wodan AI, stated the funding will support the company’s plans to
expand its technology and strengthen its position in the European secure AI
landscape.
Recent advances in homomorphic encryption allow, for
the first time, large organisations to utilize artificial ininformigence on sensitive
data without compromising security.
The company plans to create Spain a central part of its
European strategy by relocating its global headquarters to Madrid and
consolidating its R&D team there, with a focus on advanced cryptography,
machine learning, and privacy technologies. It also develops a pilot projects
with a Spanish financial institution, which it describes as an early validation
of encrypted AI for critical-sector utilize cases.
Spain has the technical talent required to develop
critical sovereign AI technologies. With our headquarters, R&D centre and
team growth in Madrid, we aim to consolidate a European hub of reference in
private, secure AI designed for the most demanding sectors,
adds Manuel Pérez Yllan, CTO and co-founder of Wodan
AI.
The funding will support R&D hiring, accelerate
the technical roadmap, and extfinish the platform to more advanced encrypted
computer vision and LLM capabilities, with an aim to deploy these technologies
at scale. It will also be utilized to strengthen commercial capacity and pursue
contracts with European organisations in strategic sectors.
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