Inspiring women: Dr Angie Ma

Name: Dr Angie Ma
Founded: ASI Data Science in February 2014
Start-up elevator pitch: ASI Data Science is a consultancy service using artificial intelligence (AI) to solve business problems, and trains students to work in AI.
Industry: Data science
Funding raised: £1.5m
Follow her: @ASIDataScience

Who is Angie Ma?

The COO of ASI Data Science, Ma holds a PhD in physics and worked previously as a researcher in nanotechnology, developing optical detection for medical diagnostic processes.

Before joining the founding team of ASI, Ma also founded Data Science Lab, which grew to be one of Europe’s largest communities of data scientists and boasted over 2,000 active members.

ASI Data Science came about when Ma and her co-founders Marc Warner, CEO, and Andrew Brookes, CTO, recognised that something better was needed to help PhD students transition from academia to working with data and artificial intelligence (AI) in the real world. Deciding that they would be able to provide the training and guidance these students needed, this concept formed the basis of their start-up – which would go on to also apply AI to business problems, offering innovative solutions to business clients.

Keen to be at the forefront of bringing disruptive AI to the general public, Ma and her team have now completed over 150 projects. ASI’s expert data scientists and engineers provide personalised business solutions and data science consulting, as well as an eight-week training course for PhD students looking to become data scientists or data engineers.

Ma and her co-founders have also developed Sherlock ML, an innovative and secure data science platform which removes the need for organisations to create a new technical stack.

How has she won over investors?

Having attracted big name clients such as easyJet and the BBC, Ma’s disruptive AI technology and educational services have also attracted investors including Jaan Tallinn, one of the developers behind Skype, and venture capital firm LocalGlobe.

The investment round resulted in a staggering £1.5m in funding to support the business’ innovative concept.

Where can I find out more about Angie Ma?

Startups 100 2017 – 39. ASI Data Science