Apheris is a startup on a mission to create collaborative data ecosystems that can contribute to tackling the world’s biggest challenges. The Berlin-based team just raised about €8.7 million to scale.
It’s a data-driven world we’re living in and with increasing amounts of data, comes both increasing amounts of power and increasing amounts of complexity in managing it. In 2021, private investment in AI and AI-related startups reached a record $93.5 billion, with it being used in a broad spectrum of use cases.
While AI and data are having an influence in virtually every sector, perhaps most important is the potential that data and AI can have in addressing humanity’s greatest challenges – from climate change to speeding up the discovery of new drugs. The possibilities are there, however, currently, the organizations developing the technology require access to more complete data sets to feed machine learning algorithms.
This is what Apheris want to provide – enabling data providers and data consumers to collaborate in a technically and commercially viable way.
Now, the Berlin-based startup has secured new capital in a seed extension round:
- €8.7 million was raised in a round led by Octopus Ventures
- Additional funding from:
- Patrick Pichette, former CFO of Google
- Heal Capital
- Berthold von Freyberg, co-founder of Target Partners
- Mirco Novacovic, the founder of Instana
- Existing investors also participating:
- LocalGlobe
- Dig Ventures
- Another.VC
Solving the world’s challenges collaboratively
Founded in 2019 by Robin Röhm and Michael Höh, Apheris’ platform created collaborative data ecosystems. The platform enables multiple organizations to extract value from each other’s decentralized data sets by allowing data providers and data consumers to collaborate in a technically and commercially viable way.
Robin Röhm, Apheris CEO and co-founder said: “The greatest challenges our planet is facing can only be solved if organizations can use each other’s data. We are committed to enabling industries to work collaboratively by removing the need for data sharing and breaking down the complexities, risks, and barriers that have previously made it almost impossible. The new investment will let us take the Apheris platform to the next level, developing the use-case-agnostic solution and connecting the best and brightest in data science and AI across organizational boundaries. There is no limit to the impact we can have if we work together.”
Organizations are sitting on terabytes of data, but are unable to unlock the true potential of that information because of regulation, governance and privacy requirements; or because it doesn’t make commercial sense to share. By allowing organizations to access each other’s data and collaborate safely across geographical and organizational boundaries, Berlin-based Apheris is enabling the next wave of innovation in analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve the world’s biggest problems.
What makes it stand out is that with the Apheris platform, data never moves from the owner’s secure environment – its platform allows all parties to have complete control over data governance, which ensures security, privacy and IP protection. Creating collaborative data ecosystems breaks down data silos, drives more efficient actions and improves machine learning capability with higher-quality data.
The startup already counts customers and partners such as BASF, Boston Consulting Group, BMW Group and JLABS, Johnson & Johnson’s innovation division. With this new funding, the team will be able to further develop its technology and expand.
Connor Scanlan, Investment Manager, Octopus Ventures said: “The Apheris team is empowering organizations to solve athe critical problem of ensuring that data privacy is protected while still enabling them to benefit from the endless positive potential of data collaboration. In doing so they are unlocking huge benefits across industries. We believe in investing in the people and ideas that are changing the world, working with founders and teams building businesses with positive impact at their core. In Apheris we see these values in everything they do and we look forward to seeing them go from strength to strength.”
