Cloaked raises $4 million to change the way consumers share their data
Cloaked, a consumer-first privacy company, announced $4 million in seed funding to help people freely share their information while preserving privacy.
The round was led by Human Capital with additional investment from General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Lux Capital, Index Ventures, Next Play Ventures, All Turtles, and the Chainsmokers’ Mantis Fund, bringing total funding to $4.25 million.
Founded in 2020 by brothers Arjun and Abhijay Bhatnagar, Cloaked is changing the way consumers share their data and brokering new rules for how their information is used — without changing the way they operate day to day.
“The challenge consumers face today is protecting their personal data while experiencing the benefits of technology,” said Baris Akis, Human Capital co-founder and president. “Cloaked is building the smartest approach I’ve seen to solve this issue by letting people use technology and have privacy with absolute ease without changing browsers or apps.”
Currently in private beta, Cloaked offers instant identifiers and smart settings to make it easy for individuals to choose what, when, where and with whom they share personal information. Using a browser extension and mobile device, users can create unique emails, phone numbers and passwords instantly.
Smart settings help customize and personalize experiences, allowing identifiers to auto forward to existing emails and phones, permanently or temporarily expire and auto update when compromised, among other options. Users can also replace existing accounts with cloaked identifiers for added protection.
“We deserve the right to use the technology we want without being forced to give up control over what it knows and learns about us,” said Arjun Bhatnagar, CEO. “Cloaked is making personal privacy effortless so we can turn data sharing into an empowering experience for everyone, and putting us on the same playing field as the companies using our data.”
Cloaked keeps personal data private from the start. Whenever an individual signs up, their platform creates a new, encrypted database. All personal information is stored with the user, giving them the keys and control to delete at any point.
“Consumer trust is broken but can be rebuilt with the right tools and infrastructure,” said Abhijay Bhatnagar, CTO. “We’re starting at the beginning of the challenge — putting control in consumers’ hands — so that together we can create new rules for how companies will access and use data in the future.”
Arjun and Abhijay’s passion for privacy emerged when Arjun developed an artificial intelligence app in 2019 that illustrated how an individual’s personal data — in one place — could improve daily life. It is their second venture together. Both life-long creators, learners and humanitarians, they built and sold their first startup — Hey! HeadsUp — in 2016.
In addition, Arjun has started two companies, runs an educational non-profit, and as a 22-year-old was a partner at a venture capital firm. Abhijay became the youngest engineer in the history of MITRE, where he spoke around the country on healthcare data standards before studying Computer Science and Economics at UC Berkeley.
Cloaked is using this new funding to continue to build out its product and scale its team, helping put consumers in charge of their data, faster.