Protege Secures $25M Series A for AI Training Data Platform Expansion
The burgeoning field of artificial intelligence, hungry for vast and diverse datasets, faces a persistent bottleneck: access to high-quality, proprietary training data that remains secure and compliant. Addressing this critical challenge head-on, Protege, a pioneering platform enabling the secure exchange of such invaluable information, has successfully closed a $25 million Series A funding round. This significant capital injection was led by Footwork, with strong participation from existing investors including CRV, Bloomberg Beta, Flex Capital, Shaper Capital, and Liquid 2 Ventures, signaling robust confidence in Protege’s innovative approach.
Protege’s platform is designed to bridge the chasm between data owners and AI developers, facilitating the secure and governed sharing of proprietary datasets essential for advanced AI model development. In an era where data fragmentation and privacy concerns often stymie progress, Protege offers a streamlined solution. The company empowers data holders to transform their underutilized, high-value assets—ranging from hundreds of thousands of hours of video and audio content to billions of clinical notes and medical images—into strategic and compliant revenue streams. This curated access to diverse modalities, particularly across the healthcare and media sectors, accelerates AI innovation while steadfastly upholding governance and privacy standards.
The $25 million Series A round marks a pivotal moment for the New York City-based company, which previously secured $10 million in seed funding in 2024. Since its seed round, Protege has demonstrated remarkable traction, growing its business 20-fold in 2025 and generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue for its data partners. This new funding will be instrumental in expanding Protege’s operations, deepening its product offerings, and forging even closer partnerships with organizations at the forefront of AI development. The lead investor, Footwork, established in 2021 by Mike Smith and Nikhil Basu Trivedi, has a strategic focus on early-stage, Series A companies demonstrating strong product-market fit, particularly in consumer and enterprise technology, and recently closed its second fund with $225 million. The continued backing from seasoned venture capital firms like CRV, a 55-year-old firm known for its early-stage technology investments, and Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage investor with a focus on machine intelligence, further underscores Protege’s potential to shape the future of AI.
In the broader AI landscape, the demand for high-quality training data is insatiable, yet fraught with complex challenges related to privacy, intellectual property, and ethical considerations. Regulatory frameworks such as GDPR and the EU AI Act are increasingly scrutinizing how personal and proprietary data is collected, stored, and utilized for AI training. Issues like lack of transparency in data usage, potential algorithmic bias, and the imperative for informed consent are paramount concerns for developers and regulators alike. Protege’s emphasis on secure data exchange, utilizing best practices in data minimization, encryption, and robust access controls, positions it as a crucial enabler for responsible AI development, fostering trust and compliance in an rapidly evolving technological frontier.
As artificial intelligence continues its rapid ascent, platforms like Protege are not merely facilitating data transfer; they are actively building the secure, ethical, and efficient infrastructure necessary for the next generation of AI breakthroughs. By unlocking access to previously siloed, high-value datasets, Protege is poised to accelerate innovation across industries, ensuring that the promise of AI can be realized responsibly and effectively.