SignSplit Public Benefit Corporation, a Delaware startup developer of a platform for the protection, licensing and remuneration of data of use to the artificial intelligence that Alessandro Monterosso and Glib Denisov founded in 2024, joined the Unicorn Club after it secured a strategic seed round of 400 million US Dollars from global fintech W Group, a firm that Volodymyr Nosov created and owns cryptocurrencies trading platform WhiteBIT, for a post-money value of un billion US Dollars (press release).
W Group’s investment in SignSplit is a diversification move from its original activities in digital financial services and blockchain infrastructure and marks its entry into a market potentially linked to the development of AI systems and the management of digital rights.
Nosov said to Forbes Ukraine that W Group acquired 40% of SignSplit ahead of appointing one board member while the founders will remain in charge of operational management. The investor will pour 400 million US Dollars in more instalments upon the achivement of targets. The funding blends equity with a multi-year package of strategic resources in support of the platform’s technological development, distribution and international expansion.
SignSplit emerged from its stealth phase following the announcement of the investment, unveiling a platform that aims to create what it calls the ‘signed-data economy’, a market in which individuals and organisations can licence data, knowledge, creative works, images, voices and other forms of human contribution, whilst setting out the terms of use, rights and remuneration in advance.
The model aims, on the one hand, at individuals and institutions that produce or hold data and content; and, on the other, at companies that develop artificial intelligence systems, robotics, scientific applications and media platforms, and which require information from the real world. The infrastructure of SignSplit links data to verifiable information regarding its provenance, consent and terms of use. Interested organisations can access data sets tailored to specific needs, whilst contributors should receive remuneration in accordance with licensing agreements. The company also envisages a verification system designed to enable digital platforms and AI systems to identify authorised content and the conditions applicable to its use.
This model therefore aims to address one of the most significant issues in the economics of artificial intelligence: how to assign an economic value to the data and human contributions used to develop and feed AI systems, whilst ensuring that the rights of those who generated them are respected.
Nosov said in a LinkedIn post: “Today we are making our official entry into the artificial intelligence market with a 400 million investment in SignSplit on the ground of a post-money value of 1 billion; we thus become its sole investor and key strategic partner. This is one of the most significant deals in the history of W Group and marks the beginning of a whole new chapter for us. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the global economy. Yet behind every model and every advance in robotics or medical research lies a profoundly human element: data. Our faces, our voices, our work, our skills, our experiences. The question is no longer simply: What data is available? The question is: Can it be demonstrated that the individual has consented to its use and is receiving fair compensation? This is exactly what SignSplit is building: an infrastructure that enables people to protect their data, decide who can use it, monitor its use and receive remuneration in return.”
Denisov, SignSplit Executive Chairman and chief product officer, added: “When we launched SignSplit in 2024, we were building a solution with an eye to where we believed artificial intelligence would be heading, not where it was at the time. We realised that the next generation of AI would need more than just additional data: it would require higher-quality real-world data, with a clear provenance and associated permissions and rights.”The funding of W Group will now primarily support the development of technological infrastructure, strengthening the engineering team, cyber security, regulatory compliance and preparations for the international launch.
Monterosso, SignSplit ceo, added: “SignSplit provides solutions for a world in which the boundary between human experience and technology is becoming increasingly blurred. As artificial intelligence becomes more deeply embedded in the real world, people’s knowledge, creativity, skills and identity will become increasingly intertwined with the way technology evolves and interacts with the world. We believe that SignSplit and the use of signed data can become the bridge between these two spheres, linking human contribution to protection, participation and remuneration as technology advances.”
Monterosso, a Calabrian entrepreneur born in 1990 and originally from Scilla, already gained experience in the digital healthcare sector. Trained as a research nurse, he worked on paediatric oncology clinical trials, focusing on methods for collecting and managing patient data.
In 2018, he cofounded PatchAi, an Italian start-up specialising in conversational artificial intelligence solutions for patient monitoring and data collection in clinical trials. PatchAi developed a platform based on a virtual assistant capable of interacting with patients and collecting the data that they provided in real time with the aim of improving their engagement in clinical trials and the quality of gathered information. In January 2021, the start-up announced a 1.7 million euros funding round that German venture capital fund UV CAP, SFEM Italia(Stevanato Group) and Healthware Ventures (fka Esense Venture) joined (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
In March 2019, the company attracted 110 million euros from UV CAP and others. In July 2019, UVCAP, Healthware Ventures, Padda Health, Avalanche Investments, and other business angels poured 0.75 million in the business. PatchAi also received grants worth above 0.3 million euro. In November 2021, Alira Health acquired the company (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
