Today is a really big milestone in data.world’s history as we just announced our $50m fundraise led by Goldman Sachs. The level of innovation and impact this will enable us to bring to our customers and community, as a proud Certified B Corporation and Public Benefit Corporation, is incredibly exciting.
Proof that cold-calls work, I first got pinged by Goldman Sachs in 2017. They were impressed by the massive scale of our vision and wanted to track our company closely. I got to know Michael Reilly over the years that followed. We pitched him and Kelly Wallace days after we kicked off our growth fundraising tour on January 10. We received the initial term sheet on February 14th, on my 50th birthday, and then we came to final terms with Mike and the GS team on the 10th anniversary of the Bazaarvoice IPO.
I wrote this tweet stream on that day to reflect. These dates were completely serendipitous to the process, but the timing wasn’t lost on me. Our goal since the beginning of data.world has been to build an incredibly impactful company. The fact that a firm as prestigious as Goldman Sachs did so much due diligence on us, speaking with so many of our customers, prospects, and even competitors’ customers to determine that we are the best positioned in our industry speaks volumes.
Mike, Kelly, and Wesley Garrett are all incredibly hardworking. I have no doubt that Mike will be a valuable addition to our Board of Directors, alongside Jason Pressman, Sally Jenkins, Scott Booth, Matt Laessig, and myself. Bob Kelly and Paul Albright were also very involved in the process, as well as Joseph DiSabato and Darren Cohen. Paul has been especially helpful on the go-to-market front with his extensive SaaS background from Marketo, SuccessFactors, and others.
When I think about the team that we have on the field, not just Goldman Sachs but also all of our investors and advisors - and of course our full-time employees, I feel very lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing people. Working with my co-founders, Bryon, Jon, and Matt ever since we incorporated in September of 2015 has been a real honor. Now, with so many large customers, a large public community, and an incredible team, I reflect on the magic of six years of hard work to get to this point.
No doubt that the pandemic has been a challenge for us all - I’ll never forget how teed up we were for the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in 2020. Fortunately, we beat all four of our COVID-19 financial planning scenarios through a lot of creative work and here we are today, making this historic announcement.
We're thrilled to see the coverage this announcement is generating thus far with terrific stories in VentureBeat and AustinInno.
We’ll be hiring a lot over the next 12-18 months, so please monitor our careers page. You would truly be joining an A-team, and also one that really cares about diversity. I think we’ll build a tremendous amount of equity value together from here, so join us and make history! Most importantly, I want to thank our customers and community for believing in us. We simply wouldn’t be here without you.
We are quickly becoming your most deployed data tool in history, and the front office interface for all of your data and analytics work, connected with the tools that you’ve already been using for years.
