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The Prime minister decided to award a contribution from the Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir (P.I.A.), of around half a million euros, to Octopize as part of the 8th wave of the innovation competition I-nov. Octopize competed in the theme Digital Deep Tech. His project focuses on the deployment of his disruptive method for anonymizing personal data: Avatars.
Co-managed by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty and the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, operated by Bpifrance and ADEME, this competition rewards start-ups and SMEs with innovative projects with high potential for the French economy. The Government thus wishes to accelerate the development of innovative companies, with a high technological content and at the cutting edge of research. The i-Nov competition promotes companies that are leaders in their field and can claim a global reach. Octopize, a start-up based in Nantes with the Deeptech label, meets this dual objective of technological innovation and European ambition.
Avatars, a revolution for the personal data market
Indeed, Octopize aims to become the European leader in the anonymization of personal data, thanks to a unique and patented method: the Avatars. This breakthrough innovation, based on a new Artificial Intelligence technique, makes it possible to exploit and share personal data with absolute respect for privacy. In 2020, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) successfully audited this method and certified the compliance of the solution with the three anonymization criteria described in the G29 opinion.
Les Avatars transform personal data into anonymous and statistically relevant synthetic data. By maintaining the quality and structure of the original data, the results are easily reproducible. On the other hand, the Avatars fall outside the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD). They become like this usable, shareable (even outside the European Union) and can be kept for no time limit. What is the difference compared to competing solutions? Thanks to its metrics, Octopize quantifies and thus proves the effectiveness of its Avatars both on the respect of privacy and on the quality of data. Les Avatars become multi-purpose, multi-user data with no expiry date, no longer putting the individuals behind the data at risk.
In the age of big data, software avatar is therefore a revolution for the personal data market. Indeed, while the exponential growth in the collection of personal data offers an immeasurable source of value, both for economic actors and public services, it is accompanied by serious risks, weighing on the protection of the privacy of the individuals concerned. Proof of this is the accumulation of business related to the hosting or processing of European personal data by American operators: Google Analytics, Meta... Synthetic and anonymous avatar data is therefore the solution for exploiting and sharing personal data in an ethical manner..
Avatars, already used in the health sector
Moreover, Octopize customers were not wrong. The anonymization software avatar is already marketed in a sector that collects highly sensitive data: health. Tabular data and time series are anonymized via a software Or of service. The Data Clinic, for example, attached to the Nantes University Hospital, uses its patients' data with the agreement of the CNIL thanks to Avatars. The same goes for the AP-HP, the Angers University Hospital, Inserm, Inserm, SOS Médecins, the European HAP2 project, the Health Data Hub or even with start-ups such as Epidemium, EchoPen or Samdoc, and with pharmaceutical laboratories, as illustrated recently with Roche.
Avatars thus pave the way for the revaluation of health data. They are unbridling medical research and facilitating open science. The start-up Octopize is proud to contribute to this vital public health issue, exacerbated by the health crisis.
What if, tomorrow, avatars became the norm in the European Union?
With i-Nov funding, Octopize will accelerate R&D to extend the use of the software avatar to complex data (textual, spatial, etc.) and improve the industrialization of the method, in order to become the European leader in data anonymization. The strength of the Octopize method lies in its flexibility, which makes it possible to adapt to all needs, from internal use to open data, and in its robustness, which opens the way to a wide variety of uses. The next stage of Octopize is already under way and aims to conquer new French and European markets: banking, marketing, insurance, finance, finance, mobility, mobility, communities, etc.
Octopize advocates a radical change in the use of data at the service of all and respectful of everyone: reserve personal data for personal use and use Avatars for all other uses. And if tomorrow, the Avatars were they becoming the norm in the European Union?
With Octopize, let's exploit the value of data at the service of all, with respect for everyone.
About Octopize
Octopize is a Deeptech startup based in Nantes that aims to become the European leader in anonymization. It has developed and patented a unique method for anonymizing personal data, whose compliance is certified by the CNIL in June 2020: the avatars. The method is marketed in the form of software or a service allowing new uses in an ethical way. It is already recognized in the health sector and in other verticals. The startup has about ten people. In September 2021, Octopize raised 1.5 million euros in funding from several venture capital investors, Bpifrance and Business Angels. The 2022 winner of the i-Nov competition, by decision of the Prime Minister, she is opening up to other economic sectors and confirming her ambition.
To find out more : https://octopize.io
Founder : Olivier BREILLACQ — linkedin.com/in/olivier-breillacq
Press contact : contact@octopize.io
About the i-Nov Competition
Launched in 2017 and co-led by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery, the i-Nov competition already has more than 400 winners. It is part of the “Innovation Competition” continuum, divided into 3 complementary components: i-PhD, i-Lab and i-Nov. The innovation competition marks a commitment by the State through funding, labelling and strengthened communication, making it possible to support the development of highly innovative and technological companies. Upstream, the i-PhD and i-Lab competitions aim to encourage the emergence and creation of Deeptech start-ups, born from the advances in cutting-edge French research. Downstream, the i-Nov competition supports innovative development projects led by start-ups and SMEs. This competition is financed by the State through the Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir (P.I.A.) as part of France 2030. It mobilizes up to 80 million per year around themes such as the digital revolution, ecological and energy transition, health or security. It is operated by Bpifrance and ADEME. For the winners, it is an opportunity to obtain co-financing for their research, development and innovation project, whose total costs are between 600,000 and 5 million euros. As a result, financial assistance of up to 45% of the project cost in the form of grants and recoverable advances.
To find out more : https://www.gouvernement.fr/investissements-d-avenir-lancement-de-la-8eme-vague-du-volet-i-nov-du-concours-d-innovation
About the Future Investments Program (P.I.A.)
Committed for 10 years and managed by the General Secretariat for Investment under the Prime Minister, P.I.A. finances innovative projects, contributing to the transformation of the country, to sustainable growth and to the creation of the jobs of tomorrow. From the emergence of an idea to the dissemination of a new product or service, P.I.A. supports the entire innovation life cycle, between public and private sectors, alongside economic, academic, territorial and European partners. These investments are based on a demanding doctrine, open selective procedures, and principles of co-financing or return on investment for the State. The fourth P.I.A. (P.I.A.4) has 20 billion euros in commitments over the period 2021-2025, of which 11 billion euros will contribute to supporting innovative projects as part of the France Relance plan.
To find out more : https://www.gouvernement.fr/le-programme-d-investissements-d-avenir
About Bpifrance
Bpifrance finances companies at each stage of their development with credit, collateral and equity. Bpifrance supports them in their innovation projects and internationally. Bpifrance also now ensures their export activity through a wide range of products. Consulting, universities, networking and an acceleration program for start-ups, SMEs and ETIs are also part of the offer offered to entrepreneurs. Thanks to Bpifrance and its 50 regional establishments, entrepreneurs benefit from a close, unique and effective interlocutor to support them and face their challenges.
To find out more : https://www.bpifrance.fr
