Hazy, the synthetic data company, has closed a $9 million Series A funding round with participation from Nationwide.

Funding for the round also included participation from Wells Fargo, M12 – Microsoft’s venture capital fund – and Intesa Sanpaolo bank.

The London-based startup – previously a spin-out project from University College London – began drawing attention after it was crowned best AI startup in Europe in Microsoft’s Innovate AI competition, which netted Hazy a £1 million prize.

The company says it uses AI-generated smart synthetic data which retains the statistical quality of the real data but uses no real information, therefore “removing any privacy risk”.

The synthetic data generated can be used in place of real data for the likes of developing new AI or machine learning processes and software testing.

Harry Keen, co-founder and chief executive of Hazy, said businesses’ response to the capabilities of its synthetic data have been huge.

“Enabling our customers to access and actually use their data unlocks real commercial value,” he said. “This funding will solidify our position as the leading synthetic data provider for enterprises to unlock value through their data and enable us to explore the greater potential of generative AI to produce real results for businesses, with no privacy limitations.”

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