A UK startup that uses artificial intelligence to help businesses manage data and meet GDPR regulations has won $1 million in funding from a group of companies including Microsoft. Hazy has created a more secure data sharing system that lets people track and manage who has access to information, and generates GDPR compliant legal agreements. The company has won Microsoft's Innovate.AI global startup prize, which is open to small firms using AI to solve problems and improve lives. Hazy took home the Europe prize, along with up to $500,000 in Azure credits, Office 365 licences and $1 million in funding from M12, Microsoft's venture fund, and Notion Capital. Harry Keen, Chief Executive of Hazy, wrote in a blog post: "It's an amazing accolade for the Hazy team, which I'm proud to say is made up of some of the world's best AI and machine learning experts, thanks to our partnership with UCL. "Innovate.AI told us that they received hundreds of applications from startups across North America, Europe and Israel, all vying for their region's respective prize.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and biotech firm Envisagenics scored a 7-digit endorsement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) this week in the form of a grant that will support the further development of its SpliceCore technology. SpliceCore is a cloud-based drug discovery platform that leverages AI to detect therapeutic targets for genetic diseases caused by RNA splicing errors, like spinal muscular atrophy, Huntington's Disease, and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The company today announced that it has received a $1.5 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 grant from NIH, which will be delivered over the course of 2 years. Envisagenics says the money will allow it to "substantially expand the [SpliceCore's] knowledgebase and predictive functions." READ: Lost in the CRISPR Hype, a Gene-Editing Giant Is Fighting Back The platform itself was developed in part with a SBIR Phase 1 grant of $225,000, which the team received in 2015.

Now based in New York City, the biotech announced this week that it's been awarded a $1.5 million Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant from the National Institutes of Health – the second time the NIH has backed the data-crunching startup. The new award is earmarked for the continued development of SpliceCore, Envisagenics' proprietary, cloud-based drug-discovery platform, which uses artificial-intelligence protocols to identify biomarkers and potential pharmaceutical targets. The two-year NIH grant also continues a significant hot streak for the bioinformatics-focused startup, launched in 2013 by cofounders Maria Luisa Pineda and Martin Ackerman with the help of a $100,000 seed investment by Accelerate Long Island and the Long Island Emerging Technology Fund. Envisagenics, which earned a $225,000 SBIR Phase I grant in 2015, announced earlier this month that California-based venture fund M12 (formerly Microsoft Ventures) and Washington State-based Madrona Venture Group were sinking a combined $1 million into the NYC biotech. And that chunky investment followed the November 2017 closing of a successful $2.3 million funding round, with multiple investors – including the Empire State Development Corp., New York's main economic-development driver – buying in.

Last year, M12, Microsoft's venture fund (formerly known as Microsoft Ventures), set out on a mission to uncover the most innovative startups harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform businesses and solve real-world challenges. Together with Madrona Venture Group, Notion and Vertex Ventures, we put a combined $3.5 million in investment funding on the line to kick off Innovate.AI, a global startup competition that would drive progress in AI and further Microsoft's commitment to making AI accessible for all. Six months later, we're overwhelmed with the response. Not only did we receive hundreds of submissions, the companies were all innovative, impactful and inspiring. In healthcare, startups are utilizing AI to create personal and mental health assistants, conduct drug research and diagnosis as well as spot patterns and abnormalities.