Cinchy, a data management services startup for enterprise customers, today announced that it has raised $14.5 million in Series B funding led by Forgepoint Capital, with participation from IVP, SUV, Techstars and Mars. Bringing the company’s total revenue to $24 million, the capital will continue to grow Cinchy’s reach and invest in the startup’s core technology, CEO Dan Demers told TechCrunch in an interview.
“Data management remains an expensive in-house task, and the proliferation of applications generating ever-increasing amounts of data adds to the challenge. As a result, instead of being a business driver or a competitive advantage, data is often a drain on IT budgets and a nightmare for compliance teams,” said Demers. “The Cinchy platform solves many of the challenges associated with today’s IT environments, particularly those characterized by data silos, data duplication and complex coding.”
In 2017, Dimers teamed up with Sinchin and Karanjot Jaswal with the ambitious goal of rolling out data integration processes. Demers was previously Director of Prime Finance and Future Technology at Citi, where he built and managed a technology delivery and brokerage services group. Jaswal was also working on risk and margin on the data warehousing team at CT.
Both Demers and Jasawal recognize that companies are struggling to overcome data integration barriers. To their point, in a recent IBM survey, 40% of IT leaders say their data integration is becoming too expensive, while 19% believe their current data integration solution cannot handle all data sources.
“The existing app- and API-centric architecture requires individual apps to manage their own data, and that means each new app or API adds another data silo,” Demers said. “It’s like a tax on creativity, which gets worse with every new solution.”
Cinchy aims to solve this by connecting organizations to a “network-based” platform to unlock data from applications and other silos. Project teams first connect to the platform from core systems, software-as-a-service applications, and spreadsheets—Cinchy handles things like data backup, data versioning, and data engagement tracking seamlessly. Administrators can access the platform to view, edit or query data for individuals and groups. Other users with the correct permissions can interact with the data to build data models.
Image Credits: Sinch
Sinchi uses its own platform to run its business. Employees have self-service access to find, query, create and modify data, DeMers says. Changes to data are version controlled, access controlled, and available to applications and users based on granular controls.
“Anyone who has experienced the collaboration and efficiency of collaboration tools like Google Drive and Docs will understand the value of bringing those capabilities to organizational data,” said Demers. “The results in terms of speed, efficiency, control and creative problem solving are astounding.”
DeMers sees Cinci competing with any vendor that promises to simplify data integration. There are a fair number, including Equalum, Airbyte, Hevo Data and Jitsu – all targeting a market worth $22.28 billion by 2027. Demand for data integration solutions certainly seems high, with a 2020 survey from Dresner Consulting Services showing that 67% of enterprises relied on data integration to support analytics and business intelligence platforms, and 24% planned to in the next 12 months.
But Dimmers is mostly focused on processes to better combat data fragmentation, especially in the context of analytics. “Many of the products that can be seen when compared to Syncy are actually improving the efficiency and compliance associated with data integration,” he said.
Rivals will no doubt disagree. It’s true, though, that Cinchy has a growing customer base, particularly in the financial industry, which suggests it’s winning over businesses. Custodians include institutions such as TD Bank, National Bank and Natixis. Cinci recently released a credit union edition to better serve financial institutions.
“Organizations everywhere are looking for ways to save money while continuing to take advantage of market opportunities with innovative solutions. That’s why we’re confident the Cinchy platform will appeal to the chief experience officers and team leaders tasked with connecting these priorities,” said Demers. Sheets and other silos allow you to liberate and operate. [available] For true collaboration whenever and wherever needed.
Toronto-based Cinchy has more than 50 employees and is currently hiring.
