DataWell

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Martin de Heaver

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co-proposers and additional applicants

Martin de Heaver

Roman Bauer

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

DataWell - a secure marketplace where data providers are compensated in cryptocurrency for sharing health data, fostering diversity and accelerating medical innovation with strong privacy protections.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Our innovation lies in an algorithm (machine learning model) that determines how valuable data shared is, so we cannot have this publicly visible.

[METADATA] Horizons

Marketplace

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

DataWell is a global marketplace dedicated to the secure and ethical collection of health data. By connecting data providers who share data ( individuals or organisations) with data consumers (companies that need the data to make healthcare breakthroughs), DataWell aims to accelerate medical innovation and improve the health of society, while also employing advanced data anonymisation and encryption techniques to ensure stringent data privacy and security of our providers.

Providers will be rewarded with a cryptocurrency that is designed to appreciate in value as demand for our extensive datasets grows. This digital asset will incentivise users to contribute their data and become part of an economically transformative initiative. The amount of the cryptocurrency rewarded will be determined by an algorithm, evaluating the usefulness and rarity of the data shared. This will encourage people from diverse backgrounds to share data, solving the issue of under-representation of groups in datasets.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

DataWell will positively impact the Cardano community by driving the adoption and utility of Cardano's blockchain and cryptocurrency. By creating a secure, decentralised marketplace for health data, DataWell will leverage Cardano’s blockchain for transparency, security, and scalability. The project will foster broader participation from diverse global populations, incentivizing data sharing through a cryptocurrency system built on Cardano, increasing both usage and demand for the network. This initiative will also position Cardano as a leader in ethical data sharing, contributing to the global conversation on decentralised finance and data privacy. Ultimately, DataWell will enhance Cardano’s reputation as a platform that empowers transformative, real-world applications.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

DataWell is brought to you by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and academics from Oxford, Surrey and Nottingham universities. From a biomedical perspective,  Dr Roman Bauer  has built expertise from over 15 years of research in computational biology and medicine. From a blockchain perspective, team member Dr Ehsan Toreini won the Economist and Kaspersky cybersecurity award on using Blockchain for e-voting. 

Professor de Heaver is a leading figure in the responsible development of Artificial Intelligence systems, and collaborates with many top UK universities. Cofounder of Ipsotek (computer vision), GEOMii (smart cities), Merger Antitrust Review (financial information) and currently CEO of Oxford University spin out company ORBIT. Formerly a professional systems engineer with 30 years' experience of designing and building major IT systems. Professor de Heaver has been a crypto miner, user and advocate since 2014.

To validate the feasibility of our approach, we will:

1. Conduct pilot studies with select healthcare organizations to assess the efficiency of data collection, anonymization, and encryption methods.
2. Engage in community feedback loops through early-stage user testing, ensuring the platform meets privacy, security, and usability standards.
3. Collaborate with regulators and key stakeholders to ensure compliance with global data protection laws.
4. Measure demand by seeking partnerships with healthcare institutions and AI research labs that require diverse datasets.
5. Utilize Cardano's blockchain technology to ensure transparency, auditability, and trust in the data-sharing process, providing smart contract-based assurance of rewards and data privacy.

These steps will enable us to build a robust, scalable platform, while continuously verifying that our technology, legal framework, and business model are feasible and sustainable.

With professors on our team with multiple years and experience founding many startups of their own and a financial plan which determines how all the money shall be utilised in depth, we have a distinct plan that enforces the correct use of funds.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Pre-Seed Investment Secured

A: Milestone Outputs

• Initial funding secured to develop MVP and begin operations.

B: Acceptance Criteria

• Raise the targeted pre-seed funding amount.
• Formal agreements signed with investors.

C: Evidence of Completion

• Bank statement showing funds received.
• Signed term sheets and agreements.

Platform Release Candidate Ready

A: Milestone Outputs

• Platform reaches a near-final version, ready for testing and initial deployment.

B: Acceptance Criteria

• All core features built and functional.
• Platform passes final internal testing and QA.

C: Evidence of Completion

• Detailed release notes.
• Internal test reports and sign-offs from the dev team.

First Revenue

A: Milestone Outputs

• Initial sales or subscriptions generated from early adopters.

B: Acceptance Criteria

• Achieve first revenue
• Transactions successfully completed and recorded.

C: Evidence of Completion

• Financial statements showing first revenue.

Series A Funding

A: Milestone Outputs

• Secure larger investment to scale the business.

B: Acceptance Criteria

• Raise Series A funding (e.g., £5-10 million).
• Signed agreements with investors for equity.

C: Evidence of Completion

• Signed investment agreements.
• Bank statement showing funds received.

Profitability

A: Milestone Outputs

• Business reaches operational profitability.

B: Acceptance Criteria

• Monthly revenue exceeds operational costs over a consistent period (e.g., 3 months).

C: Evidence of Completion

• Profit and loss (P&L) statements showing profit.
• Detailed financial reports highlighting revenue and costs.

£100 Million Revenue

A: Milestone Outputs

• Achieve cumulative revenue of £100 million.

B: Acceptance Criteria

• Annual/total revenue hits the £100 million mark.

C: Evidence of Completion

• Audited financial reports or P&L statements.
• Revenue breakdown by source and product lines.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Prof. Martin De Heaver

Professor de Heaver is a leading figure in the responsible development of Artificial Intelligence systems, and collaborates with many top UK universities. Cofounder of Ipsotek (computer vision), GEOMii (smart cities), Merger Antitrust Review (financial information) and currently CEO of Oxford University spin out company ORBIT. Formerly a professional systems engineer with 30 years' experience of designing and building major IT systems. Professor de Heaver has been a crypto miner, user and advocate since 2014.

Dr Roman Bauer

Dr Bauer is associate professor in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Surrey. Dr Bauer's research focuses on the computational modelling and analysis of biological dynamics, in particular those of the brain. His research involves modern computing approaches, innovative machine learning and AI methods, and IT-related collaboration. Dr Bauer is spokesperson of the international Computational Biology collaboration BioDynaMo (www.biodynamo.org). He is also co-founder of biotech company Oxford Cryotechnology (www.oxfordcryotech.com/).

Fakhri Abbasov

Mr Abbasov is a third year University of Nottingham computer scientist with industry experience in machine learning and software development, including optimising mechanistic calculations of fluid/gas properties in oil pipes and implementing the prototype of the data valorisation algorithm for DataWell using machine learning. He has honed his leadership skills through university group projects, being head boy in school, where he organised multiple charity events and ran a mathematics club. Moreover, he participated in the Imperial College London Global Summer School, collaborating with students from diverse academic backgrounds to address real-world STEM challenges.

Aditya Bhagavatula

Mr Bhagavatula is a third year University of Nottingham computer scientist. He led a 10-month software engineering project with ORBIT-RRI, where he helped develop an innovative data valuation machine learning model and iteratively refined the initial brief to create DataWell. To further hone his technical skills, he has participated in crypto hackathons and implemented gesture recognition on an autonomous mobile robot as part of a robotics competition team. His passion for impactful change is reflected in his work as a First Aider at Premier League games and Race for Life events. He is dedicated to revolutionising healthcare with AI, combining his technical proficiency and passion for positive change.

Advisors:

Professor Joao Pedro Magalhaes

Prof de Magalhaes graduated in Microbiology in 1999 from the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia in his home town of Porto, Portugal, and then obtained his PhD in 2004 from the University of Namur in Belgium. Following a postdoc with genomics pioneer Prof George Church at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, in 2008 Prof de Magalhaes was recruited to the University of Liverpool in the UK to establish his own group on genomic approaches to ageing. In 2022, Prof de Magalhaes was recruited to the University of Birmingham as Chair of Molecular Biogerontology where he currently leads the Genomics of Ageing and Rejuvenation Lab [http://rejuvenomicslab.com/].

His lab studies the ageing process and how we can manipulate it to fend off age-related diseases and improve human health. The lab’s research integrates different strategies, but its focal point is developing and applying experimental and computational methods that help bridge the gap between genotype and phenotype, a major challenge of the post-genome era, and help decipher the human genome and how it regulates complex processes like ageing.

Notably, his lab is a world-leader in employing genomics and bioinformatics to study ageing, with pioneering work in studying gene networks of ageing and in sequencing and analysing genomes from long-lived species. Prof de Magalhaes has authored over 100 publications and given over 100 invited talks, including three TEDx talks. His research has also been widely featured in the popular press (BBC, CNN, the Washington Post, the Financial Times and many others).

Prof de Magalhaes is an advisor/consultant for various organisations, including nonprofit foundations, universities, investment funds and biotech companies. In the long-term. Prof de Magalhaes would like his work to contribute to the development of interventions that preserve health and combat disease by manipulating the ageing process

Professor Marina Jirotka Oxford University ORBIT LABS Advisory Board

As Professor of Human Centred Computing in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford Marina leads interdisciplinary research that combines both social and computer science approaches to the design of technology – we research methods and approaches for building and evaluating technology responsibly in ways that may enhance individual autonomy, wellbeing and promote and protect human values.

Marina is the Director of the newly established Responsible Technology Institute, an international and interdisciplinary hub for responsible innovation focusing on a range of ICT areas including robotics, AI and the digital economy. I hold an EPSRC Established Career Fellowship called RoboTIPS (Developing Responsible Robots for the Digital Economy) funding a five-year investigation into the development of an ‘Ethical Black Box’, whereby robots using AI are fitted with a type of in flight recorder to aid in post-accident investigations. I am also Co-I on RAILS (Responsible AI for Long-term Trustworthy Autonomous Systems), bringing expertise in responsible innovation and socio-technical systems; I co-lead on PARIS-DE (Design Principles and Responsible Innovation for a Sustainable Digital Economy) co-designing digital tools for sustainable and responsible innovation; and the MRC-funded Adolescent Mental Health and Development in the Digital World.

I am also the co-director of ORBIT, a leading provider of RRI (Responsible Research and Innovation) training across academia and industry.

My recently concluded projects include a range of topics in RI: trust in algorithms, responsible AV data, responsible social media, trusted digital economy.

Dr Ehsan Toreini

My field of research is focused on physical security (electric hardware and non-electric components), trustworthy machine learning and web security. My research is strongly engineering-focused in nature, be it through designing real-world attacks or cost-effective and efficient mitigations. I have over 35 peer-reviewed publications in cyber security (including top journals and venues such as Usenix Security Symposium, PoPETS, ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security) and I own two US patents on authentication of physical objects using internal structure (#US10680825,#US10841098). In particular, I am proud of my work(s) on instinct-based anti-counterfeiting technologies in different documents (paper sheets and polymer-based banknotes), smartphone sensor attacks and defences and trustworthy machine learning. Finally, leading international media outlets such as The Economist, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Guardian, E&T and ACM Communications have featured my research. I won national and international grants and prizes for my research including “the Economist and Kaspersky cybersecurity award” on using Blockchain for e-voting. 

I also have a significant industrial impact during my research career, including my impact on (1) Mozilla Firefox deployed a fix on Firefox 46 (CVE-2016-2813), (2) Apple included a fix in iOS 9.3 (CVE-2016-1780), (3) W3C (the main international web standards organisation) has released a revised version of the motion and orientation specification with a security section citing our research (4) Safari patched the vulnerabilities discovered based on our research (bug report #14685058). I am also an invited expert on Device and Sensor Group in W3C.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

For pre-seed funding we seek £2.5 million in Feb 2025 and then £8 million in June 2026.

The funds will be mainly allocated towards two key areas: finishing developing a deployment ready platform and marketing to build our brand.

Development: Includes outsourced development, in-house crypto, cybersecurity and mobile application teams, database purchases, cloud computing and other technical expenses required for the maintenance, upkeep and scaling of our platform.

• £280,200 in 2025 + £202,000 in related wages
• £457,971 in 2026 + £857,700 in related wages
• £1,190,667 in 2027 + £1,312,990 in related wages

Brand Building and Marketing: Predominantly consists of utilising social media strategies and influncers, advertising, affiliate marketing scheme and market research to grow our brand presence and reach a wide audience of potential users and customers.

• £168,000 in 2025 + £243,000 in related wages 
• £1,241,000 in 2026 + £703,000 in related wages + £2,000,000 Mr Beast Fund
• £4,920,000 in 2027 + £1,719,400 in related wages + £3,000,000 Mr Beast Fund

We will prioritise development in 2025, followed by a focus on marketing and customer acquisition in 2026 and 2027. A more detailed breakdown is available in our financial statements section below, which extends through 2029, where we anticipate reaching £100,000,000 in revenue.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of the DataWell project represents significant value for money for the Cardano ecosystem due to its potential for long-term impact and sustainable growth. The project has been carefully designed to focus on key priorities—developing a robust, secure platform and building a recognizable brand—ensuring that the investment will lead to a high-quality, scalable solution that directly supports Cardano's ecosystem through blockchain integration.

Justification of Costs:

1. Development Costs: The development-related expenses are driven by the need for advanced technologies such as blockchain, cybersecurity, and data encryption, all essential for ensuring privacy and security. Our decision to include a mix of outsourced development, in-house teams, and cloud infrastructure is both cost-efficient and scalable. These costs are proportionate to market rates, which are driven by the high demand for skilled developers in the blockchain and AI space. According to industry reports, typical rates for experienced blockchain developers range from £80,000 to £120,000 annually, which is aligned with the salaries and wage allocations we’ve projected.
2. Marketing and Brand Building: We have allocated substantial resources to marketing, particularly in 2026 and 2027, which includes partnerships with influencers. This is a strategic investment to rapidly grow our user base, ensuring mass adoption of the platform. While influencer partnerships may seem costly, research shows they are among the most effective ways to reach a diverse, global audience, which is crucial for a data-sharing platform like DataWell. The ROI on such campaigns is expected to drive exponential growth in user acquisition, which justifies the costs.
3. Gradual Scaling: We have structured our funding requirements to align with the platform’s developmental stages—starting with a focus on development in 2025, followed by aggressive marketing in 2026 and 2027. This gradual scaling ensures that we don’t overspend early on, and we maximize the value of our resources when the platform is market-ready. The costs outlined are proportional to the scope of the project and the global healthcare data-sharing market we are targeting, expected to reach a multibillion-pound valuation.

Value to Cardano Ecosystem:

The DataWell platform will be built on Cardano’s blockchain, leveraging its smart contracts, scalability, and low transaction costs. By creating a large, incentivized user base for data sharing, DataWell will drive greater usage of Cardano’s network, increasing demand for ADA and reinforcing Cardano’s role as a leader in decentralized, real-world applications. The return on investment for the Cardano ecosystem is expected to be significant as we drive more adoption of Cardano’s blockchain and its utilities.

In summary, the costs of the project are carefully considered, proportionate to industry standards, and structured to maximize both development and user acquisition. The value delivered to the Cardano ecosystem in terms of user growth, network activity, and blockchain adoption ensures a high return on investment.