Arbor Steel has raised £200,000 in a pre-seed funding round to bring its digital identity citadel to customers. Developed following a £100,000 InnovateUK Grant, the platform provides a secure and efficient way to share personal data and interact with services whilst maintaining control. This round will enable Arbor Steel to build revenues at pace as the product launches to market today, starting with the customers of professional and financial services firms for either personal use or as a member of a charity, board or trust. A vital service for individuals or SMEs, with the monthly cost starting at £8.33 Arbor Steel provides personal online security for less than the price of a Spotify subscription. 

Founder and CEO Edward Goodchild, a serial entrepreneur, wealth advisor and trustee of the UK Cyber Security Council, established the business following years of client frustration when sharing personal information to verify their identity, often over insecure, unencrypted emails. With our post Covid, digital lives demanding regular sharing of personal data on a near daily basis, Goodchild recognised the need for a solution that gives power back to individuals, enabling them to control how their data is stored and used. Arbor Steel was developed in collaboration with the digital product development agency Orckid as one of Goodchild’s many problem-oriented entrepreneurial ventures that he has built through his Zendht Venture Studio. 

The platform combines best-in-class technologies for identity verification and authentication, secure messaging and data storage into one easy-to-use platform, from which they can manage workflows online or on a mobile. Individuals, NEDs, governing bodies and charitable boards can be freed from cumbersome onboarding and customer engagement processes whilst protected from attacks against their most sensitive data. This also benefits the institutions that routinely require access to their client’s personal information – such as financial advisors, healthcare providers, accountants and lawyers – enabling fast onboarding in minutes rather than months and secure ongoing interactions. 

Edward Goodchild, founder and CEO of Arbor Steel commented: “Everyone who has been asked for identification documents when they engage with professionals and businesses has to share sensitive information.

“Whether you rent a flat, sell a house, write a will, apply for a loan, make a personal investment, or have been a board director, you need to communicate and safely share sensitive personal data. Email is high risk and low security but it is the current default option. Clients rightly demand more and so they should."

“Arbor Steel is designed to turn this broken process on its head, providing everyone with an affordable and secure platform from which to maintain authority and control over their sensitive data whilst getting things done efficiently. In an always-on, digital world no-one can leave their privacy to chance, so stay safe online with your own secure digital citadel.”

Peter Wade, a financial services consultant, said: “Arbor Steel is an innovative solution that brings much-needed efficiency directly to those tired of relying on large institutions to improve their systems. This service-agnostic platform provides clients with security, control of the digital process, and a greater ability to interact with their service providers from a position of ownership. It is the type of sensible innovation that is so simple it surprises me no one else has done it”