Using no-code approaches to data analytics allows you to process data 5x faster than you would by writing code. Data is an integral part of a growing number of functions within organizations but traditionally there has been a siloed approach that prevents accessibility across various functional departments, limiting collaboration. Facet is a collaborative data analytics platform that allows individuals from all parts of an enterprise to seamlessly integrate data into their decision-making through its interactive front end, without knowledge of code or SQL. Data can sit anywhere on the company’s cloud infrastructure but is accessible to any team within the organization using Facet’s workspace. Facet acquired the technology from ad tech company Metamarkets, so it’s been battle-tested in the ad space but the platform is versatile enough to handle any data in any industry.
AlleyWatch caught up with CEO Kevin Weatherman to learn more about the practical applications of the platform, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
The $8M round in seed funding was led by Harrison Metal with participation from Bedrock and Breakpoint Capital. Angel investors including Gokul Rajaram, Slava Rubin along with Brian Long, and Andrew Jones from Attentive Mobile also participated.
Tell us about the product or service that Facet Data offers.
Facet’s cloud-agnostic platform breaks down silos by allowing business and technical users alike to collaboratively explore key business metrics and perform root-cause analysis, without needing to write code or SQL. Instead of traditional, static dashboards that require a dedicated data team to develop, present, and maintain, Facet gives all users direct access to collaborative, interactive workspaces that provide a single place to interact with and analyze data generated from anywhere throughout the enterprise.
What inspired the start of Facet Data?
Facet saw the need for a cloud-native, front-end analytics solution that would work across any cloud data warehouse (CDW) and be easy to integrate by eliminating the need for writing code and SQL.
How is Facet Data different?
Facet breaks down internal silos across any teams that are analyzing disparate datasets. By getting rid of static dashboards, Facet leverages dynamic shared workspaces to ensure that everyone—whether it’s sales, marketing, or product—is reviewing the same real-time data. Because Facet also sits on top of other CDWs, it saves businesses time and additional storage costs, as they don’t have to duplicate the data in their storage facility and then send it to a separate one in order to allow Facet to access it.
What market does Facet Data target and how big is it?
Because Facet was formerly a data visualization product created by ad data company Metamarkets, we serve ad tech customers incredibly well, given they see billions of transactions a day. What we’re most excited about is not only the ad tech market, but fintech, martech, and any other software product-led company with large amounts of transactional, time-series data. Ultimately, every company is a data company and therefore needs access to a collaborative analytics platform.
What’s your business model?
Businesses pay a platform fee and a per-user annual license.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business??
COVID has primarily impacted the business from a hiring perspective. We are headquartered in New York, but COVID has given us the opportunity to be a remote-first company and truly hire talent anywhere we can find it. With only a team of 17, we already have a very well-documented remote-work policy, and ensure we’re offsetting not being able to work side-by-side in person with other important company offsites and events.
What was the funding process like?
Fundraising is always hard. It is much easier to get a meeting but harder to present to a zoom room full of people. Ensuring you have a good zoom setup is key.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Convincing investors that the world needs a better business data analytics platform.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
We attracted attention from investors because of our unique differentiators including being cloud-agnostic, the ease of integration with our no-code solution, and the fact that we are dedicated to collaboration in allowing everyone within the business the ability to act upon the same, real-time analytics.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’re really looking forward to fueling the development of our current integrations and investing in our technology. We also plan to launch and integrate with additional new partners which we’re extremely excited about. Lastly, we’ll expand our team by hiring new key members and growing the business across a multitude of different industries.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Focus on your customers, solve their problems.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
You can plan to see us double in size and working with customers across all industries.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC
Bathalzar.
