Privacy tech

The new secret service in Europe

Last updated: 25 Nov 2021

Market 101

For companies, ensuring safe data collection and processing practices used to be primarily a matter of safeguarding their reputation from scandal: not quite an afterthought, but not a top priority either. Privacy tech was more of a pastime than a business idea, reserved for hopeless idealists tinkering away in internet forums rather than VC-backable startups — that is, until the EU introduced GDPR, the world’s most comprehensive set of data protection rules, in 2018.

Now companies are concerned with safeguarding their reputation and avoiding fines of up to 4% of their annual global turnover for mishandling data. Meanwhile, consumers are slowly coming to grips with exercising their rights as “data subjects”. In this new reality, startups are doing the essential work of explaining clunky data protection laws or engineering new ways of anonymising or encrypting data. Whether out of conviction or necessity, customers are lining up to pay.

Early stage market map

Early stage market map

Key facts

€746m

GDPR-related fine imposed on Amazon, the highest to date1

65

Percent of the world population that will have its personal information covered by modern privacy laws by 2022 (up from 10% today)2

€960m

size of the global data privacy market in 20203

Startups tracked by Sifted

Sifted take

Privacy tech requires an informed and concerned public to thrive, and raising awareness doesn’t happen overnight. Introducing GDPR was a first crucial step, but one that is incomplete without proper enforcement. After a slow start, regulators are now demonstrating that the law does in fact have teeth — and with consumers and companies taking note, privacy tech startups stand to benefit.

Rising stars

Metomic

Data governance & compliance

Data mapping

Total funding

€1.7m

London, United Kingdom
2018

Offers software to categorise and secure sensitive data for automatic compliance with privacy regulations, as well as no-code integration between third party apps to share and classify company data securely.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€8.5m


Date

2020

Size

€3.5m

Bearer

Data governance & compliance

Data mapping

Total funding

€1m

Paris, France
2018

Offers privacy risk assessments for cloud-based applications without directly accessing companies’ databases. By scanning source codes, Bearer can then automate data mapping processes and compliance documentation over time.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€5m


Date

2018

Size

€950k

Syntho

Data anonymisation

Synthetic data

Total funding

€1m

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020

Automatically generates synthetic data by analysing sensitive datasets and creating data twins, which organisations can experiment with without facing any privacy risks.

Round

Seed

Valuation

€5m


Date

2021

Size

€1m

Early stage startups to watch

Bearer

Paris, France
2018
Seed

1m

950k

-

Better Internet Search

Kirkcaldy, United Kingdom
2019
Pre-seed

210k

40k

1m

Cufflink

Anglesey, United Kingdom
2018
Pre-seed

770k

400k

3m

Data Legal Drive

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
2018
Seed

2m

2m

-

Datagalaxy

Lyon, France
2015
Seed

2.2m

2m

-

Exate Technology

London, United Kingdom
2015
Seed

2.8m

2.8m

-

Glimpse

London, United Kingdom
2019
Seed

1.5m

1.5m

6.5m

Hazy

London, United Kingdom
2017
Seed

6.2m

3m

16m

Integritee

Zurich, Switzerland
2021
Seed

1.8m

1.8m

-

Metomic

London, United Kingdom
2018
Seed

1.7m

3.5m

-

Nymiz Software Company

Bilbao, Spain
2020
Seed

1m

600k

3m

Oblivious AI

Baile Atha Cliath, Ireland
2020
Seed

909k

860k

-

PORT.im

Brighton, United Kingdom
2015
Seed

750k

145k

-

Pridatect

Barcelona, Spain
2017
Seed

2.2m

1.2m

-

Pryv

Lausanne , Switzerland
2012
Seed

2.9m

1.3m

-

Qualitadd

Paris, France
2016
Seed

910k

910k

-

Quodari

Rotterdam, Netherlands
2019
Angel

435k

300k

2m

Syntho

Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020
Seed

1m

1m

5m

Europe’s success stories

Who early stage startups are up against

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

→ Europe’s highest-valued privacy tech startup at €354m

→ Offers data management tools for large enterprise clients like Citi, HSBC and the NHS, including deidentification and data provenance tracking

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

→ Provides a platform that allows companies to connect to other organisations’ customer records without moving or sharing their data

(Pre-)Seed

SeriesA

SeriesB

SeriesC

SeriesD+

IPO/Exit

→ Europe’s first independent, privacy-first search engine

→ Notable features include the absence of tracking or storing queries or cookies, data encryption to avoid thirdparty interference and regular auditing from data privacy institutions

Sources

Data sources

Sifted.eu Proprietary data

Dealroom.co Data

News articles

1 Why Amazon’s £636m GDPR fine really matters August 2021 | WIRED

Defining Privacy Tech May 2021 | Privacy & Technology

Who's funding privacy tech? April 2021 | TechCrunch

The Problem with Automating Data Privacy Technology May 2020 | Dark Reading

2 Gartner Predicts for the Future of Privacy 2020 January 2020 | Gartner

Market research

3 Data Privacy Software Report 2021-2028 June 2021 | Fortune Business Insights

Research reports

Privacy technology: What's next? May 2021 | KPMG

2021 Privacy Tech Vendor Report September 2021 | IAPP

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