2018: The Year Privacy-Focused Startups Took Off

Friday, December 28, 2018 02:27APM / By AngelList Weekly

Thehottest topic in tech this year wasn't AI or the blockchain. It wasprivacy.

Someof the biggest tech companies in the world endured lawsuits, congressionalsummons, and investigative reports in major news publications, all centeringaround their use (or misuse) of user data. Governments implemented sweepinglegislation aimed at protecting user data, from GDPR to the California ConsumerPrivacy Act, California's new law that will offer citizens more controlover how companies use their data.

Atthe same time, Crunchbase recorded a more than 30% increase in thenumber of funding rounds raised by privacy startups in 2018 over 2017.

Whilethe public outcry around users' rights to privacy has put many tech giants incrisis mode, it has also been a boon to a new generation of startups that aremaking security, privacy, and anonymity the core of their value proposition.

Startupsbenefiting from this surge in interest around privacy, many of which deliverproducts that serve both businesses and consumers, include:

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

Purism builds privacy-centric computers andmaintains its namesake PureOS, a privacy-focused Linux distribution.It's begun accepting preorders for the new Librem 5, a smartphone builtspecifically to protect user data.

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

BigID uses machine learning to help companiesprotect and analyze user data while staying compliant with new privacylaws. The startup raised a $14 million Series A in January, then a$30 million Series B in June.

Proshare Nigeria Pvt. Ltd.

Canopy was launched by Spotify and Echo Nestalums—including Brian Whitman, the man who built Spotify's Discover Weeklyrecommendation engine—in 2018, licensing a recommendation engine that doesn'tcollect user data.

Everytime Facebook reports a leak, or a new exposé is published about howGoogle neglected to disclose a potential breach, the level of user concernaround privacy increases.

Withusers becoming increasingly concerned about the security of their data, andgovernments taking more aggressive action to regulate tech companies' use ofit, the market for privacy-focused software will only continue to grow.

Inthe future, we may well look back on 2018 as the year privacy-focused startupstook off.

Hot Start-Ups Hiring Now via Angel List

· HyperScience automates data entry. Ittranslates human-readable content into machine-readable data, freeing customersfrom their reliance on manual data entry and allowing them to do businessbetter. Hiring a lead product designer, solutions engineer, and more.

· Naborly is anautomated screening service helping landlords and property managers knowwho they are renting to, before they move in. Its algorithm reduces evictions,late rent payments, and property damage. Hiring a graphic & web designer, performance marketingmanager, and more.

· River is building an entirely newkind of search engine—one focused exclusively on making sense of the past 24hours. Hiring a software engineer, mobile engineer, and more.

· Whisper.ai uses deep learning inhearing aids to amplify voices and sounds of interest—the #1 need for folkswith hearing loss. Its system has 10x the noise reduction of leadingcompetitors with a lower price point. Hiring a deep learning engineer, a firmware engineer, and more.

Credits: Angel List Weekly