It’s estimated that the total amount of data is expected to reach 59 zettabytes this year with 90% of that data created in the last two years alone. With such an exponential increase in data, companies are racing to protect the data they maintain and regulatory initiatives like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act are formalizing standards. BigID is the data intelligence platform that leverages advanced machine learning and automation to allow customers to seamlessly protect sensitive data, be compliant will data privacy laws, and ensure compliance with data sharing requirements. The company offers a foundation product that provides companies with visibility of all their data across the data landscape and additional apps provide added intelligence and specialized insight into privacy, protection, and perspective.
AlleyWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Dimitri Sirota to learn more about the data protection ecosystem the company has built, its future plans, and recent round of funding, which comes at a $1B valuation and brings the total funding raised to $216.1M for the company founded in 2016.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
This was our Series D round. Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global co-led the round with participation from Glynn Capital and existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Boldstart Ventures.
Tell us about the product or service that BigID offers.
BigID’s data intelligence platform enables organizations to know their enterprise data and take action for privacy, protection, and perspective. Customers deploy our product to proactively discover, manage, protect, and get more value from their regulated, sensitive, and personal data across their data landscape. Our ML-based data discovery foundation helps organizations know their data across their entire data landscape (from mainframe to cloud to on-prem), and our app framework lets you action that data – we have apps for privacy, security, and governance that range from a data risk app to a data retention app to a data remediation app and more.
What inspired the start of BigID?
We wanted to rethink how companies looked at their data in an increasingly data-driven world. We began as a data intelligence company aimed at helping companies discover their most sensitive data, so that they could better understand what data they collected, whose it was, and how sensitive it is. We had early success with a focus on emerging privacy and protection regulations like GDPR and CCPA – and we’re now seeing a broader scope driving across security and governance as well.
How is BigID different?
BigID was developed as a data-centric intelligence platform, built on the premise that organizations couldn’t accurately identify what data they had at scale – no tool could differentiate the privacy, security, or data enablement implications of so many different data types at such a fine-grained level. As a result, we’re unique in that we sit at the center of data privacy, data governance, and data security. So whether our customers are using our solution to comply with privacy regulations, strengthen their security posture or enable their data governance teams, we empower them to get more insight, visibility, and control over their data than any other solution on the market.
What market does BigID target and how big is it?
Since our solution has various use cases and applications, I wouldn’t say we target any one specific market: we have customers in financial services, insurance, retail, healthcare, communications, and more. Our data discovery capabilities are critical for all organizations that collect, manage, and process sensitive data – companies who face regulatory compliance, are looking to improve their security posture, manage cloud migrations, improve business efficiency, and so on. And the size of that market opportunity is enormous.
What’s your business model?
We offer a subscription-based solution with additional privacy, security, and data governance applications available for purchase on top of our foundational platform.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business?
We have not experienced much, if any, impact on our business due to COVID-19. While we stopped hiring for a time in Q2 this year when the pandemic took off, we thankfully never had to resort to layoffs and have emerged from this crisis rather unscathed.
What was the funding process like?
We weren’t actually looking for additional money – investors reached out to us. We decided that with the pandemic and the economy still precarious, it made sense to move forward with another round of funding to ensure we have the capital and resources to continue investing in our platform and growing our business.
We weren’t actually looking for additional money – investors reached out to us. We decided that with the pandemic and the economy still precarious, it made sense to move forward with another round of funding to ensure we have the capital and resources to continue investing in our platform and growing our business.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
None really. Again, we were not actively looking to raise additional capital.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
I believe investors see the vast market potential that BigID has and how we’ve grown thus far, and they quickly recognize that we are a company worth investing in.
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What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
In 2021, we’re planning to accelerate growth in our sales and marketing divisions, and aim to launch a series of new applications and core product offerings.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
It’s worth remembering that there are more sources of capital than ever before – it’s not just Sand Hill Road, and organizations should make sure they develop their relationships elsewhere as well.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We’re expanding to become more of a data platform than ever before, with apps in our app framework – along with an app marketplace – which is a huge initiative.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
Sant Ambroeus is a favorite near our office in Soho.
