Seed Of The Week: Blindnet

What: Blindnet is developing a solution that simplifies the adoption of advanced encryption protocols for companies that want to offer the same level of data security and privacy available in services such as Signal and Telegram. Via the startup's platform, companies can create embeddable forms to collect customer data with Blindnet ensuring encryption and regulatory compliance behind the scenes.  

Why: As privacy regulations such as GDPR become more common, companies are being hit by increased fines as they fail to respect basic compliance. According to Blindnet, GDPR-related fines rose from €158.5 million in 2020 to €1.087 billion in 2021. This is the result of businesses not investing in proper compliance tools. Blindnet essentially wants to offer a simple package of solutions to solve that issue.

Who: Paris-based Filip Radulovic and Milan Stankovic and New York-based Vuk Janosevic.

Seed Round: $1.3 million

Investors: Forum Ventures, Acequia Capital, Elaia Partners, Sharpstone Capital, and business angels including a former President of Microsoft France

What's next: Blindnet will use the money to expand its 10-person team and grow its user base to help refine product development.