Data science is highly coveted and championed because its use extracts insights that transform data into tangible value. But accessing and indiscriminately using data ends up creating complex systems that need to be managed, which is a task in and of itself. Rasgo Intelligence is a platform that empowers data scientists to easily use raw data to build models rather than spending an inordinate amount of time processing data for use. The company uses a community-based and repository approach, similar to GitHub for developers, that allows users to explore, clean, join, and transform data using a library of preset blocks and functions. Users then can share features across different models and with colleagues and deploy to production directly from Rasgo with a single API and versioning capabilities. The company operates on a freemium model with access to a robust repository with a paid enterprise option available to users with larger-scale needs.
AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Founder Jared Parker to learn more about transforming the engineering process in data science with Rasgo, the company’s future plans, latest round of funding, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $5.1M from Unusual Ventures as the lead for our Seed round back in July 2020, and then followed on with $20M in additional capital from Insight Partners for our Series A round, after generating global enterprise customers across 5 different industries and 70,000 open-source downloads in just a few quarters.
Tell us about the product or service that Rasgo Intelligence offers.
Rasgo is a feature store that enables data scientists to transform raw data into features at 10x velocity, share features across data scientists and models, and continuously serve features to models in production.
What inspired the start of Rasgo Intelligence?
Before starting Rasgo, we spent years working with data scientists to deep dive into their workflow and key challenges. We heard from hundreds of data scientists that they spent the vast majority of their time exploring, cleaning, joining, and transforming data – rather than modeling. This was a critical frustration and one we knew needed to be solved.
How is Rasgo Intelligence different?
Rasgo is different in that it is the only feature store on the market that is fully SaaS-based and natively integrates with leading cloud data warehouses. By providing this functionality, data scientists are able to drive insights from their data in a fraction of the time, while data management and InfoSec teams are able to fully secure and govern their data without risk.
What market does Rasgo Intelligence target and how big is it?
The feature store market is a multi-billion-dollar TAM.
What’s your business model?
We distribute our technology via an open-source freemium product and enterprise licensed product. Data scientists in the community are able to pip install our open-source product and get value in minutes. Large enterprises license our product to realize acceleration, collaboration, and governance benefits.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business??
COVID-19 has enabled us to recruit the best talent from across the globe. We’ve hired world-class talent across 8 different states. This has been one of our biggest differentiators.
What was the funding process like?
Relatively simple. We’re solving an acute pain point in a market with a sizable TAM. We were reached out to inbound by several leading investors and we selected Insight Partners based on their operating experience and brand. It was a no-brainer.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Global enterprise customers across 5 different verticals provided the validation that this is a serious pain point with broad market applicability. Our customers did the selling for us based on the tangible value they are getting from our product and team.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Mass market adoption of our free PyRasgo product. Engaging with the data science community to drive value over revenue. Monetization will come.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC
Catch Meatpacking and Malatesta in West Village.
