Japan-based KDDI and VC investment partner Global Brain led a €10 million funding round in private browser company Xayn, cash earmarked for expanding its capabilities and funding a push into Asia.

The additional capital takes the total raised by the German start-up to €19.5 million since it was founded in 2017. It plans to start its Asia expansion with a launch in Japan.

Xayn describes its app as a “fusion of a search engine, a discovery feed and a mobile browser”. It is currently available for tablets and smartphones running iOS or Android, and a web version is in beta testing.

The start-up markets its app on privacy credentials and claims its algorithms do not rely on centralised data collection, instead using AI features to provide a personalised web experience without transmitting sensitive information.

Xayn said as of today (9 August) its app had been downloaded more than 215,000 times.

In a statement, Xayn co-founder and CEO Leif-Nissen Lundbaek explained: “In an industry in which selling data and delivering ads en masse are the norm, we choose to lead with privacy instead and put user satisfaction front and centre.”