Mayo Clinic invests in data privacy startup TripleBlind

Mayo Clinic, the renowned US healthcare company, has invested in TripleBlind, a startup developing a platform that enables companies to train models on encrypted data. 

The Missouri-based startup has raised $8.2 million in a round that featured Mayo Clinic along with Accenture Ventures, Okta Ventures and NextGen Venture Partners among others. The investment from Mayo expands their current collaboration, which began in late 2020. 

Researchers at Mayo Clinic are using TripleBlind’s tools to validate interoperability of algorithms on encrypted data, and train new algorithms on private data. TripleBlind’s API-driven virtual exchange solution is based on breakthroughs in advanced mathematics, which the Mayo Clinic team is validating. The data and intellectual property in the algorithm is kept secure and addresses the issue of healthcare systems having to either transfer data or algorithms outside their institution for experts to train or conduct research. The encryption conduit Mayo Clinic is evaluating will eliminate the need to transfer data externally or share algorithms.

The collaboration is also seeking to demonstrate that TripleBlind’s toolset can be applied to train and develop entirely new algorithms from independent entities anywhere in the world without the need to share raw data, preserving privacy and security while meeting regulatory standards.

“TripleBlind’s API-driven virtual exchange solution accelerates how organisations develop, test and deploy AI solutions in healthcare, and leverage third party data amidst heavily regulated privacy concerns,” said Riddhiman Das, co-founder and CEO of TripleBlind. “We believe Mayo Clinic’s investment further supports our approach and we’re excited to continue our collaboration to deploy TripleBlind’s encryption tools and work on real-world applications.”