Rapidata banks CHF 1.5 million

With the recent rise of advanced AI tools, many may fear that humans are becoming obsolete; however, this transformation is far from the truth. Human-powered data processing, such as annotation, validation, and assessment, is crucial for the development of AI tools. To work through these millions of repetitive tasks that need human intuition, Rapidata built a unique model that does not rely on a fixed workforce. Instead, they provide a ‘human processing unit in the cloud’ based on a huge network of users from around the world, or, in more metaphorical terms used by one of the investors, a “wetware” service, a play on the word “hardware” referring to the glibbery human brain. With its system, the startup can process large amounts of data with human intelligence and sentiment from specific regions within minutes.

The technology has been deployed and verified on smaller projects, and the next step is scaling up to involve larger industry players. Customers will use the platform for typical AI data annotation types such as Classification, Ranking, Comparing, Bounding Boxes, Locating, Segmentation and Tracking. “We offer a self-serve platform, with which we hope to become the number one tool for human data annotation for all the Students, small Startups, Researchers etc., that are working on the AI Tools of the Future”, said Jason Corkill, Rapidata’s Founder and CEO. Interested users can test the platform for Comparing and Locating tasks.

Incorporated in May 2023 by Jason Corkill, Marian Kannwischer, Luca Strebel and Mads Kuhlmann-Jørgensen, Rapidata has won new investors to support its next steps. Besides lead investor BlueYard, the round is significantly backed by Acequia Capital and an angel investor. “We’re thrilled by the confidence shown in our vision and platform with this funding round. The funds will significantly accelerate our scaling efforts and help to establish ourselves as a key player for AI data annotation and human data processing,” says Jason Corkill, Rapidata’s Founder and CEO.

“High-quality labelled data and human feedback are critical differentiators for training AI models. Rapidata’s innovative approach to human-powered data processing dramatically reduces the cost and time required to develop AI models. We’re proud to support Rapidata in shaping the infrastructure of this new era.” - David Byrd, General Partner at BlueYard Capital.

With prior investment rounds from Venturekick and the Wingman Campus fund totalling CHF 70,000, this round marks a significant step in Rapidata’s growth trajectory. The funds will be invested in expanding the team and reach in key markets, including the United States, where many of the key stakeholders in the AI industry reside.

(Press release/RAN)