Enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) security startup TrojAI has appointed a new CEO and secured $7.76 million CAD ($5.75 million USD) in funding as it expands its footprint out of the Maritimes.
The funding round, which TrojAI is classifying as seed capital, was led by existing investor Flying Fish Partners with participation from returning investors Build Ventures and Techstars, as well as new investors Alteryx Ventures and Flybridge Capital Partners.
TrojAI develops solutions to protect AI platforms from poisoning, evasions, or Trojan attacks.
Chip Hazard, general partner and co-founder of Flybridge Capital Partners, is joining TrojAI’s board as a result of the round.
“AI is both a force multiplier and a challenge for businesses today, and TrojAI is helping to solve the critical issue of security,” Hazard said in a statement.
“We are impressed with the depth of the team’s expertise and the company’s production deployments, which include implementation at one of the largest financial services companies in the world,” he added.
TrojAI said the funding will support its product development, sales, and marketing efforts as it expands its operations with a new office in Boston.
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Leading these expansion efforts is new CEO Lee Weiner, who replaces TrojAI co-founder James Stewart as he shifts to the CTO position. Weiner has an extensive background in cybersecurity, having held senior executive positions at Boston-based cybersecurity company Rapid7 for 11 years.
“As we enter a new growth phase, it’s the right time to add a seasoned leader to our executive team that has experience with rapidly scaling businesses,” Stewart said in a statement. “Lee’s background and expertise will be instrumental as we continue our mission of securely enabling AI for the enterprise. We could not have found a better fit than Lee.”
Founded in 2019 and based out of Saint John, New Brunswick, TrojAI develops solutions to protect AI platforms from poisoning, evasions, or embedded Trojan attacks on training data and AI models. TrojAI closed $3 million in seed funding in early 2022 and ended up on Vector Institute’s 20 Canadian AI Startups to Watch list at the end of the year.
The startup went on to be one of 12 participants in Google’s 2023 accelerator program for Canadian startups.