Tikos secures pre-seed investment from Symvan Capital to tackle artificial intelligence transparency.
Symvan Capital backs Bristol artificial intelligence startup Tikos to address the black box problem.
Tikos provides compliance and trust solutions for artificial intelligence systems, helping organisations address transparency concerns. The company operates from Bristol.
Bristol-based artificial intelligence compliance startup Tikos has secured pre-seed investment from London-based Symvan Capital. The funding will support the company as it develops technology designed to make complex AI systems more transparent for regulators, compliance teams, and users.
The investment arrives as the UK government prepares to introduce new regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence. Tikos addresses the challenge known as the black box problem, where automated decisions are difficult for operators to interpret and explain.
Founded last year by Mike Oaten and Dr Don Liyanage, the firm combines a proprietary reasoning engine with an expert-in-the-loop design. Tikos also collaborates with Microsoft, Nvidia, and Innovate UK through various specialist business programmes.
Investor perspective
"We’re excited to support Mike and Don in making AI systems trustworthy and compliant, addressing one of the most urgent challenges in AI. With over a decade of proprietary research, their ability to retrofit explainability and auditability into existing models is game-changing for regulated industries and high-stakes AI applications."
Michael Theodosiou
Investment Manager, Symvan Capital
