Manchester startup zally is to move its headquarters to San Francisco after raising £2.8 million in a bridge round of funding as it prepares for a US raise.
The firm’s executive chairman David Webb and Web3 specialist Dan Hibell are among the angel investors backing the behavioural AI startup.
Founder Patrick Smith told BusinessCloud the round was oversubscribed by 40% and included figures from Manchester Angels as well as London.
Webb, who joined as chairman 18 months ago and became executive chairman three months ago, is the founder of 6point6 — acquired by Accenture in December 2023, the same month zally closed its £1.6m pre-seed raise.
“Our headquarters are now in San Francisco,” Smith told BusinessCloud. “It puts us at the heart of the AI ecosystem and closer to the global funding and commercial networks we need to scale.
“However, Manchester remains a critical hub for us — it’s where the company was born and raised. We’re committed to keeping and growing our teams in both Manchester and London, as well as across the UK through remote roles, and we’re actively hiring here.
“We’re hugely grateful to Manchester. The support from the local community has been incredible, and it’s the best possible place we could have started this journey. We wouldn’t change that for the world.”
zally is aiming to define ‘behavioural AI’ — starting with continuous authentication, recognising users in real time through the way they interact with their smartphones.
zally
Smith said he plans to begin a seed raise in the United States next month after securing design partners from financial services, infrastructure and security to pilot its initial authentication product, zAuth.
“Momentum around zally has been phenomenal in recent months. We’re not just building a company, we’re defining a new scientific field of AI,” he said. “That has attracted incredible interest, and at the same time, our team has delivered a product that we’re now piloting with these partners.
“The next phase is scaling those deployments, while continuing to expand our research into behavioural AI.”
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The post Manchester’s zally to move HQ to San Francisco after £2.8m raise appeared first on BusinessCloud.
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