11 Sep 2024
UMNAI is a Maltese startup - and a member of our Digital Security & Trust group – that has developed a novel AI framework combining neural networks and symbolic logic. This breakthrough solves a longstanding problem in AI, allowing AI systems to reason and understand the world in a way more similar to humans.
The current technology world stands on two pillars – AI, which relies on statistical methods to find patterns in data (probabilistic), and traditional programming, which utilizes logic and rules (deterministic). As the data available scales exponentially and grows more complex, rule-based programming becomes increasingly difficult and expensive. Probabilistic AI, on the other hand, thrives in this new data-rich environment but denies effective human oversight and control.
UMNAI's neuro-symbolic AI (Hybrid Intelligence) combines the best of both worlds blending probabilistic and deterministic techniques in a single framework. UMNAI’s product is a developer platform that acts as the tools for building neuro-symbolic AI solutions. It enables users to train models, extract rules, and combine AI with traditional programming techniques. Unlike traditional AI, UMNAI's approach provides a full explanation of each prediction made, facilitating audits, compliance, and ethical considerations.
A scientific milestone: The birth of neuro-symbolic AI
Today’s AI has made breathtaking advances, but it remains a black box – nobody can know, with certainty, how neural networks and large language models (LLMs) “reason” and make decisions. Consequently, company enterprises hesitate to adopt AI and LLM-based solutions because of the lack of certainty and their tendency to hallucinate or generate nonsensical responses. UMNAI’s co-founder and CEO Ken Cassar explains:
“LLMs merely predict the next word without understanding its meaning or context. While this may not be a major issue in trivial applications, it becomes a serious concern when AI is used in areas that impact the safety and well-being of people, for example, through discrimination or miscalculation.”
UMNAI was founded in early 2019 by Ken Cassar and Angelo Dalli who both have significant experience leading other tech startups. While Cassar is the strategic product lead and disruptor, Dalli is the scientific driver of the company, whose breakthrough inventions on AI are the startup's foundation.
UMNAI is currently the only company in the world that has built a performant and scalable neuro-symbolic AI framework. It has been granted 30 patents, with another 22 pending, making it the largest patent holder and the global leader in this space.
As UMNAI embarks to define and empower the next generation of AI, it faces competition from other AI frameworks and techniques on the market. That said, the Hybrid Intelligence platform is intentionally implemented to be drop-in compatible with existing methods, allowing wide-scale adoption and collaborative partnerships and integrations with any AI vendor, platform, or framework.
The next big thing: UMNAI's impact on the industry
Unlike most businesses that compete in established markets, deep tech ventures often operate in uncharted territory. Without clear benchmarks or precedents, it's incredibly challenging to gauge progress or measure success. Similar to other deep tech startups, UMNAI has faced the common challenges associated with scientific research, including prototyping and validating theories.
UMNAI has also faced challenges integrating its new technology with existing AI systems and establishing new standards for neuro-symbolic AI. As an industry pioneer, UMNAI has to develop new conventions and best practices in a field with limited existing frameworks, particularly in the area of AI model explainability and graph-based model architectures:
“We have to think very deeply about how to establish and set the conventions for what's basically going to be the next generation of AI. We will touch everything from robotics to automation to health to fintech. There's no industry that won't be made better by our technology. There's nothing it won't enable in ways we can't even imagine today.”
Even with its deep innovation, UMNAI faces the ubiquitous startup obstacle: funding. UMNAI secured initial funding through a combination of early pre-seed investors, grants, soft loans, and personal investments from the founders. The company is currently raising additional funds to support its growth.
While many investors have the necessary background to understand deep tech, the fast-paced nature of their work makes it challenging to take the time to peer deeply into a future beyond what is known to be possible. Extended development timelines, typical for deep tech ventures, make it harder to secure investment. Ken Cassar explains: “Investors are habitually and understandably looking for bets that are exponentially better versions of what already exists. It is challenging to convey how an entire market can and will be disrupted, creating outsized returns for patient capital.”
Despite these challenges, UMNAI's strong IP portfolio and potential for global dominance position it well for future success. UMNAI has conducted numerous Proof of Concepts (POCs) across various industries to demonstrate its technology's value and is ramping up to full commercial deployment.
Partnering for success: UMNAI and the EIC Scaling Club
As a European deep tech company, UMNAI has the potential for global dominance in its field. UMNAI's focus is on diffusing the technology and building a competitive moat through rapid adoption and innovation. Cassar says:
“We are on a mission to redefine how the world builds software, to reimagine what applied intelligence looks like and to empower a new generation of transparent, trusted, and safe automation. We will diffuse Hybrid Intelligence, to get it into the hands of creative and innovative organizations and developers who will push the boundaries of what is possible.”
While Europe has historically been a hub of innovation, it remains more risk-averse than other parts of the world. UMNAI highly appreciates participating in the EIC Scaling Club as “a valuable initiative that celebrates and supports European innovation, helping to foster a more supportive environment for startups.” UMNAI aims to leverage the EIC Scaling Club to connect with peers, investors, and potential enterprise clients. Ken Cassar adds:
“I'm hoping the EIC Scaling Club can help us broker relationships with enterprise customers, as well as large corporates who want to innovate by working closely with emerging cutting-edge startups via the Club’s brokerage.”
About the EIC Scaling Club
The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.
The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.
The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.
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