New York-based Redactable has closed on $5.5 million in a seed round led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s dedicated AI fund, as the New York startup taps artificial intelligence to scrub the internet of sensitive and outdated details.
“With so much confidential information being shared electronically, the risk of data vulnerability for both individuals and organizations is increasing exponentially,” said Redactable founder and CEO Amanda Levay, who earned a B.A. from Berklee School of Music before turning an entrepreneur.
Writing Code, Not Songs
“Too much time is spent using black markers or drawing boxes over sensitive data, which is not only inefficient but also ineffective,” added Levay, whose career graph has taken a sharp shift from the performing arts.
Other investors in the seed round included Wocstar Fund (New York), pre-seed investors Everywhere Ventures (New York), Hustle Fund (San Carlos, Calif.), Revelry (New Orleans, La.), and Stony Lonesome Group (Tampa, Fla.), and some angel investors. So far, Redactable has raised $6.8 million from investors.
“In an era of escalating data breaches and privacy concerns, there is a growing need for innovative solutions like Redactable,” said Kyle Duffy, operating partner at Gradient Ventures. “Redactable’s practical approach to improving document security through AI is well-positioned to meet modern demands of both individuals and businesses.”
Contract with USAF
Redactable’s AI-driven platform, launched in the summer of 2022, leverages natural language processing and machine learning to automatically detect and redact sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information, in documents.
Levay discovered the challenge of sensitive information floating forever on the internet while serving as a loan consultant, and proceeded to build technology to address two issues — the near impossibility of fully erasing data once it is published online, and efficiently tracking each to either edit, delete or simply redact. Thus far, companies, as much as individuals, have had to make do with inadequate PDF editing tools and legacy software to “hide” such information, often with little success.
Recently, Redactable snared a high-profile client — the US Air Force. Under a $1.25 million contract, the company will provide its software to the USAF as it seeks to automate business processes and address pressing data challenges in the Department of the Air Force.
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Levay says Redacted has discovered a far bigger market than it initially imagined. “It isn’t only law firms or the government, but also tele-health platforms, real estate companies, and even recruitment firms who are redacting resumes for diversity and inclusion purposes,” she said. Redacted also counts legal and finance as promising markets.
As innovative as Redactable’s technology is, Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne, co-founder and general partner at New York-based Wocstar Fund, believes her firm is also backing “bold and exciting” entrepreneurs like Levay.
“She and her team are reimagining how companies scale, succeed, and bring new products to market. They represent the future we all need and deserve,” said Jennings-O’Byrne, a former JP Morgan banker and the founder of a venture capital fund, Harriet Capital, for Black and Latina entrepreneurs.
