British startup Mindgard, a spinoff from Lancaster University, has emerged to tackle the growing risks associated with artificial intelligence. With AI increasingly integral to business operations, companies face a critical balancing act—implement AI effectively to harness its benefits or risk exposing themselves and their clients to significant vulnerabilities. Mindgard aims to provide a solution to these challenges by focusing on security threats unique to AI systems.
Mindgard’s CEO and CTO, Professor Peter Garraghan, emphasized the dual nature of AI risks. “AI is still software, so all the cyber risks you probably heard about also apply to AI,” he explained. However, the opaque and unpredictable behavior of neural networks introduces an additional layer of complexity, requiring a tailored approach to security. To address this, Mindgard has developed a Dynamic Application Security Testing for AI (DAST-AI) platform that detects vulnerabilities during runtime. This automated system simulates attacks using a threat library, helping organizations assess the robustness of their AI systems, including image classifiers and large language models (LLMs).
The technology behind Mindgard is rooted in Garraghan’s academic expertise in AI security. His early predictions about threats to natural language processing (NLP) and image models have proven prescient as such risks materialize in real-world applications. Mindgard’s connection to Lancaster University continues to bolster its capabilities, with the startup owning the intellectual property generated by 18 doctorate researchers for the next several years. “There’s no company in the world that gets a deal like this,” Garraghan remarked, underscoring the strategic advantage.
Although deeply tied to research, Mindgard operates as a commercial entity, offering its solution as a SaaS platform. Its target clients range from enterprises and traditional cybersecurity firms to AI startups aiming to demonstrate risk prevention to their customers. Co-founder Steve Street serves as COO and CRO, steering the company’s business operations, while newly appointed VP of Marketing Fergal Glynn is leading U.S. expansion efforts from Boston.
Mindgard’s growth has been fueled by strong investor backing. Following a £3 million seed round in 2023, the company has secured $8 million in new funding led by Boston-based .406 Ventures, with participation from Atlantic Bridge, WillowTree Investments, and existing investors IQ Capital and Lakestar. The funds will support team expansion, product development, and entry into the U.S. market, while R&D and engineering will remain in London.
Despite its small size—15 employees, with plans to grow to 25 by the end of next year—Mindgard is positioning itself for the broader deployment of AI technologies and the accompanying security challenges. “We built this company to do positive good for the world,” Garraghan said. “The positive good here is people can trust and use AI safely and securely.”
Featured image courtesy of TechCrunch
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