Will the 2020s be the era of graphs and charts? Grafiti, the search engine for charts, graphs, and insights, makes data-backed insights accessible to the masses. Unlike Google and Bloomberg, Grafiti curates its sources, using computer vision and machine learning to add another layer of credibility to all search results. In order to monetize, Grafiti plans to target the enterprise search market, which is projected to reach $5.02B by 2020.
AlleyWatch sat down with Farhan Mustafa to learn more about the inspiration for the company, its future growth plans, and recent funding round.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Pre-seed round led by Firstmark, with participation from Tuesday Capital, Great Oaks Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, and a few angels.
Tell us about the product or service that Grafiti offers.
Grafiti is a search engine for charts, graphs, and insights – on the web and Slack. It’s currently free while we explore monetization (enterprise insight search).
What inspired the start of Grafiti?
I was a former economist and investigative journalists covering the Egyptian Revolution in Cairo, in Tahrir Square, when I saw first-hand how easily misinformation can spread in a new mobile & social world (it was 2011). Since then, Grafiti has been on a mission to make data-backed insights accessible to anyone, regardless of skill level, so they can find and share facts when they matter.
Who do you consider to be your primary competitors?
For search & business intelligence, platforms like Google (of course), Statista, and Bloomberg Terminal.
For enterprise search, tools like Coveo, Attivio, Thoughtspot and even platforms like Journal.
How is Grafiti different?
Unlike Google, we curate our sources to cut through the noise and provide more credible information. We also use computer vision and machine learning to contextualize insights and determine their credibility. We’re building our own knowledge graph based on published insights & data. This approach lets us “atomize” content into building blocks – visual and text – that can be searched easier and faster.
What market does Grafiti target and how big is it?
For monetizing, Grafiti is targeting the enterprise search market – according to Grandview research, global market size expected to reach $5.02B by 2020, $8.9B by 2024.
What’s your business model?
It will be a SaaS model.
What was the funding process like?
Nail-biting anxiety + imposter syndrome + tons of team spirit? For us, it was a journey (1 year+) after exiting the Matter accelerator in NYC. We went through a few pilots with our previous product (data analytics platform) and then decided to pivot with very little money left. Once we launched our search engine and built traction, we then went for funding. We heard 75 “No’s” until we heard our first “Yes”, and it was worth it to hear it from someone like Firstmark.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Running out of money while building/launching a new product. Aside from the business challenge, for a small team, it was very much a mental challenge as well.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
I believe it was our conviction and hustle, backed up by growing traction. We’d known our investor at Firstmark for over a year before they decided to invest. In that time spanning 13 months, he’d seen us try an idea, get pilots, fail, try another direction based on pilot data and get traction before getting funding.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Launch monetization and secure a seed round.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Find traction anywhere you can and follow the data.
Let go of what you think your product’s success should be and follow the data.
ASK FOR HELP from your network – I think founders often retreat when times are tough (I did) and wish I’d asked for more help – with intros to investors, accelerators, potential users/customers, feedback, anything.
Let go of what you think your product’s success should be and follow the data.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
I think we’ll face a huge challenge in monetizing and creating a product to support that, but we’ve learned to follow our users, and right now we see that opportunity in enterprise search.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
Oh, wow. I used to be a food critic in college… so this is fun! Right now, I’d say my favorite is Birds of a Feather in Williamsburg. It’s pricier than I wish but the cooking is fantastic (former NYC legend), and it’s one of the most approachable Sichuan places around.
Runner-up: Frankel’s. I don’t even eat there often because my cholesterol can’t handle pastrami regularly, but what they’re doing, even down to how amazing the french fries is nuts.
