Data engineers have a big problem. Almost every team in their business can gather analytics and other information from their data warehouse, but few have the technical background. Redbird was created to help anyone in an organization create and run analytics without using code, thus reducing the number of bottlenecks that data engineers must deal with. The New York-based startup announced today that it has raised $7.6 million in a subscription seed round led by B Capital, along with Y Combinator, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Soma Capital, among other funds and angel investors.
Formerly known as Cube Analytics, Redbird serves as an analytics operating system that connects all of an organization’s data sources to a code-free environment that non-technical users can use to perform analytics, reporting, and other data science tasks. The new funding will be used to add more non-coding capabilities. It plans to build a marketplace where users and developers can share the apps they create using Redbird.
Founded by data analytics experts Erin Tavgak and Derren Tavgak, Redbird works with large enterprises across multiple verticals, including consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, retail, media and agencies. Erin previously worked at McKinsey, helping companies develop and implement data analytics capabilities, while Derren was Chief Product Officer at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Erin told TechCrunch that the two left their jobs to solve enterprise data analytics problems, such as a lack of automation and advanced analytics that require coding skills. That is, data engineering teams cannot meet the needs of all stakeholders, which means that companies cannot manage dispersed tools in complex data collections.
Redbird solves these problems by enabling people without a technical background to create custom applications that automate analytics, breaking down barriers for data engineering teams and making data analytics available to everyone.
Redbird’s counterparts in the enterprise data analysis space include basic analysis tools such as Tableau, Looker and Microsoft Power BI, which Redbird does not see as direct competitors because they do not automate complex workflows from end to end, but instead create comprehensive data visualizations from already transformed data sets.
Its closest competitor is advanced automation platforms such as Alteryx, but it has two weaknesses compared to Redbird. For one thing, it lacks capabilities in aggregation, data science and visualization, which means customers can’t use it as a comprehensive analytics workflow solution, Tavgac said. The problem Redbird was created to solve is difficult for non-technical users to grasp.
Most of Redbird’s clients are large corporations with revenues exceeding $1 billion. It is profitable with seven-figure revenue and 9x revenue growth last year. Redbird generates revenue through an enterprise SaaS model, with usage-based license fees.
Some examples of how clients have used Redbird: A large media company built their ad sales operations that collect data from over 10 sources, apply advanced analytics, and generate thousands of custom reports. A global CPG brand is using Redbird to monitor digital brand health across multiple data sources, such as social media, e-commerce reviews and Google search volume, and use advanced analytics to predict future sales trends.
In a statement, B Capital General Partners Karen Page said, “We believe Redbird will be a mission-critical platform for enterprises to manage complex data workflows. This investment highlights our strategy of working with innovative companies that enable rapid technological change in traditional industries.
