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UK stealth police-AI startup 22one valued near $400 million, FT says
The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said former Merseyside officer Steven Richardson's stealth firm 22one raised money from Sequoia and others at a valuation of almost $400 million.
- New headline Was: “Ex-Merseyside officer’s AI startup 22one valued near $400 million”
- Our desk updated its story
Steven Richardson, who served as a detective chief superintendent at Merseyside Police until 2021, has raised venture capital at a valuation of almost $400 million for 22one, a UK start-up planning AI tools for law enforcement, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times1.
The size of the round was not disclosed1. Investors include Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lux Capital and Creandum, those people said1.
UK corporate filings show 22one was incorporated last December1. The company is in stealth, with a public site that displays the word investigate, the FT reported1. People familiar with the venture said the product focus is AI software meant to make police work more efficient1.
After leaving Merseyside Police, which covers the Liverpool area, Richardson was UK policing lead at Amazon Web Services and later worked at Palantir, then co-founded and sold Riven, an AI document-redaction and data-scanning tool used by UK police forces, according to the FT1.
The raise comes as the UK government is pressing the 43 police forces in England and Wales to use AI to speed investigations and cut bureaucracy1. In June it established PoliceAI to develop, pilot and scale the technology; Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said time savings would be equivalent to recruiting 3,000 extra officers on top of about 145,000 serving in England and Wales1.
Some UK officials prefer homegrown vendors over Palantir, which has run pilots with several forces and faces closer scrutiny in Britain, the FT reported1. The Eastern Region special operations unit ended a Palantir pilot, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan blocked a proposed two-year 50 million pound contract between Palantir and the Metropolitan Police, citing an insufficiently competitive process1.
Police use of AI has drawn controversy over possible misuse, including a Derbyshire Police criminal investigation into allegations that a detective constable used AI chatbots to make court evidence appear more incriminating, the FT said1.
22one, Sequoia, General Catalyst, Creandum and Lux declined to comment1.