Zendataa San Francisco-based startup, quietly announced its exit from stealth mode this week with a $2 million seed funding round led by PayPal Ventures, First-hand alliance, Geek VenturesAnd Altar VenturesThe company goals to revolutionize the way in which organizations manage data security, AI governance and privacy across your complete data lifecycle.
Founded by industry veterans Narayana Pappu and Pedro Pinango, Zendata's no-code platform provides comprehensive insight and control over data usage, enabling organizations to make informed decisions and comply with evolving regulations on data privacy and AI governance.
Considering context, data flow and awareness: The Zendata approach to AI and privacy
In an interview with VentureBeat, CEO Narayana Pappu highlighted the unique features of the Zendata platform. “AI governance and privacy issues within the broadest sense: context (how information is used), data flow (who’s it shared with – first/third party), awareness – how does it fit with internal policies or agreements. Zendata addresses these issues on the client, application and model levels,” Pappu explained.
The platform's controls protect sensitive data and mitigate risk by helping organizations discover after they are sharing an excessive amount of information with third parties, by validating the information used to construct models, and by ensuring that data is transferred to and logged in secure, approved locations.
No-code platform provides rapid implementation and continuous compliance for enterprises
Zendata's no-code approach provides rapid implementation, democratized access, continuous compliance, scalability, and centralized control. “Implementing a knowledge risk management program takes between 6 to eight months. Zendata's no-code platform enables organizations to quickly adapt to evolving regulations, reduce dependence on technical resources, and efficiently manage data risk across the enterprise,” Pappu said.
The company has already achieved initial customer successes, including securing public-facing surfaces of corporations around the globe and managing privacy risks of models. Zendata's platform has received positive reviews on G2, a number one software review platform.
Bridging the gap between engineering and policy organizations within the era of AI adoption
With the convergence of the roles of CIO, CISO and CDO within the era of AI adoption, Zendata goals to bridge the gap between technical organizations (data creators) and policy organizations (data managers). The seed funding might be used to develop the platform's remediation capabilities and construct integrations with governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions and existing platforms.
Zendata's participation in Race Capital's highly selective Topline program, known for backing corporations like Databricks, is anticipated to open latest avenues for growth and future funding.
As data breaches develop into more common and cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in systems and networks, Zendata's solution is well-positioned to satisfy the growing market need for effective AI and data risk management. With a long-term vision that permits transparent and equitable collection and use of consumer data, Zendata goals to create a virtuous data trust cycle.
