Machine Learning Researcher

Augur, a London-based startup, has raised $15 million in seed funding led by Plural to develop its AI-powered threat intelligence platform. The company applies artificial intelligence to existing cameras and sensors, providing operators with real-time alerts without requiring hardware replacement. Founded in 2024 by entrepreneurs with public-sector and defence-tech backgrounds, Augur's system integrates with legacy surveillance infrastructure at transport hubs, stadiums and power stations. The company has secured early deployments in the UK. Investors highlighted increasing sabotage risks and new regulations, including the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, as key demand drivers. The funding will accelerate product development and expand deployments across critical infrastructure sectors, where the platform aims to transform passive surveillance feeds into actionable intelligence that shortens response times.

Augur lands $15 million funding to strengthen critical infrastructure security. Augur has announced a $15 million seed round led by Plural, with participation from First Kind, SNR, Flix, and Tiny VC. The funding will support the deployment of Augur's technology as governments, operators, and venue owners across Europe face rising security threats to vulnerable public spaces and critical national infrastructure. The changing threat landscape. The world is facing ever more complex and destabilising security threats, underlined by the outbreak of conflict in Iran, which has seen civilian infrastructure, including oil refineries, airports and hotels attacked. Even before the war, there had been sabotage of critical infrastructure, including Berlin's power grid, attacks on the Italian rail network ahead of the Winter Olympics and a Heathrow airport cyber attack that grounded flights and caused major disruption. This type of grey-zone activity, hostile actions that fall below the threshold of conventional war, including sabotage, arson, vandalism and attacks on civilian infrastructure, has increased significantly from 2023-24, according to research by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Meanwhile, terrorism-related arrests have increased in the UK, according to Home Office data, as venues prepare for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (Martyn's Law). As threats have increased, organisations that are responsible for public safety are realising that their legacy camera and sensor systems have limited value during real-time incidents and for post-incident investigation. Augur's mission is to provide the perception engine that keeps public spaces and critical infrastructure safe, as threats increase. Working with public and private sector organisations, Augur improves real-time situational awareness and post-incident understanding without compromising civil liberties, to protect people in their daily lives. Turning existing infrastructure into operational capability. Augur's platform integrates with existing cameras and sensors already deployed across transport hubs, critical energy infrastructure, stadiums, labs, innovation hubs and other sensitive sites. Using advanced AI and machine learning models, it enables operators to detect abnormal behaviours, track unfolding incidents across multiple locations and reconstruct events within seconds rather than hours. The system pushes the boundaries of monitoring to support the full security lifecycle: from early warning and hostile reconnaissance detection through to real-time incident response coordination and post-event investigation. This gives teams the ability to intervene earlier and act decisively when seconds matter. Crucially, Augur doesn't rely on facial recognition technology. Anonymised behavioural and movement patterns are tracked through sensors, giving teams exceptional operational pictures and unparalleled intelligence, while preserving personal privacy. Augur was founded by CEO Harry Mead, previously the founder of safety app Path, alongside Palantir alumni Imran Lone (CTO) and Stefan Kopieczek (Head of Engineering). Together, they bring nearly two decades of experience working with European governments, defence organisations and public-sector operators on complex, data-driven security challenges. That experience shaped Augur's focus on improving how existing infrastructure is used in practice, ensuring that data from cameras and sensors can be understood quickly and acted upon reliably during incidents. Privacy and responsibility by design. Augur has been built from the ground up with a privacy-first architecture. Anonymisation is applied by default, and the platform is designed to comply with GDPR, the EU AI Act and related regulatory frameworks. Since launching in 2024, Augur has grown to a team of 30 in London and has begun deployments with major UK infrastructure and venue operators. The new funding will accelerate product development and expand the company's ability to support organisations responsible for protecting large numbers of people in public spaces. "The nature of threats facing public spaces and critical infrastructure has changed. Incidents are faster, more dispersed and often designed to exploit gaps. Augur exists to close those gaps, helping operators spot warning signs earlier and make better use of their existing infrastructure. Our goal is simple: to help protect people in the places where they live, travel and gather," said Harry Mead, CEO of Augur. "When it comes to protecting our people and critical infrastructure, we cannot afford to be as complacent and naive as we were in protecting Ukraine. The new focus on grey zone warfare and domestic sabotage is not a threat we are currently equipped to contain. Protecting our critical infrastructure is one of the defining challenges of this generation. The Augur team leverages a unique combination of deep field experience and technological innovation to deal with some of the most serious threats we have encountered as a society and a clear sense of responsibility not to lose our democratic values in the process," Khaled Helioui, partner at Plural, concluded. More about