Osano, a developer of data privacy software for businesses, announced Wednesday that it has raised $11 million in funding, bringing the company’s fundraising total to $22.3 million.
The Austin-based company also announced what it says is the industry’s first “no fines, no penalties” pledge, which guarantees customers will not be fined or penalized for data privacy violations. If a client is fined, Osano promises to pay the fine or penalty, up to $200,000.
Osano also used the funding announcement to unveil its Data Discovery tool, which uses artificial intelligence to automatically find, classify and evaluate all data across any system.
“Most companies have data spread across hundreds or even thousands of systems. And the more complex an organization gets, the harder it is to understand and track the myriad of ways and systems in which potentially sensitive data gets collected and stored,” Arlo Gilbert, Osano’s founding CEO, said in a statement. “With Data Discovery, users can find, categorize and search for personal data, wherever it lives.”
The company has 30 full-time employees and nearly 30 contract employees. And it plans to double its headcount by the end of 2022, with an emphasis on sales to meet an exponential increase in demand for its platform.
Gilbert said most customers come to Osano for its widely used cookie consent management software, then progress to higher-level tasks, such as implementing data subject access requests (DSAR) and automating rights requests workflows, which is performed by Osano’s new Data Discovery product.
Gilbert said the biggest demand he hears from clients is the need for a software that keeps them compliant in the face of data privacy laws that differ from region to region.
“The result is that trying to comply with the privacy law of one area, for example California, may not be sufficient for complying with Virginia’s law as an example, so you have to have tools that are geographically aware and that are constantly updated by human beings who are communicating with the enforcement agencies and paying attention to case law,” Gilbert told Built In.
The funding round was led by Jump Capital, with participation from TDF Ventures, as well as participation from existing investors LiveOak Ventures Partners and Next Coast Ventures. This latest funding will be allocated to expansion and doubling headcount over the next year.
“Data is at the heart of every business today and companies that show customers they take privacy seriously earn trust and loyalty,” Sach Chitnis, co-founder and partner at Jump Capital, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to lead this investment round and support the talented team at Osano, who in a short time have built industry-leading tools for companies to make their data an asset, rather than a liability.”
