With a fresh $25 million, Opendatasoft keeps the data open, plans to open new markets

Parisian data-sharing platform Opendatasoft has raised $25 million in a new funding round. As the name infers, Opendatasoft provides a platform for individuals to create and share data experiences across their internal and external ecosystems. The funding is expected to help the company scale operations, move the needle on international and vertical market expansion plans, including retail, services, and healthcare, and strengthen market presence in North America, Australia, and across Europe. To date, Opendatasoft has raised approximately $37.5 million.

Focusing on the vast amounts of under, or completely unused data already present within any number of organisations, the aim for Opendatasoft is to not only harness the latent potential in this data but to present it in a format that need not a Ph.D. to comprehend.

Established in 2011, over the past decade Opendatasoft has helped both public and private sector organizations, including Bloomberg, Michelin, Schneider Electric, the European Investment Bank, and the cities of Vancouver, Paris, Brussels, Eindhoven and Bristol, to launch over 2,000 projects that have created real-world, demonstrable value from data that would have otherwise sat on the sidelines, presumably gathering dust.

“We wanted to be able to provide information on air quality in an open format that anyone could query, and that is as transparent as possible,” explained Bristol City Council’s air quality officer Steve Crawshaw. “A platform that not only allows you to dig into a high level of detail but allows you to visualize information in a way that is accessible to the vast majority of people. And this model is replicable across any urban monitoring indicator.”

Opendatasoft’s $25 million funding round was led by Demeter (through its Paris Fonds Vert fund) and saw participation from existing investors including the Banque des Territoires, as well as new investors ODYSSÉE Ventures and Eiffel Investment Group.

“We are convinced that sharing data effectively with large audiences for economic, environmental, and transparency purposes will play a major role in the growth and success of businesses and in the efficiency of public authorities,” commented Demeter’s Jean Charles Scatena. “Through this investment by our Paris Fonds Vert fund, Demeter will contribute its expertise and network to help create a world leader that supports the energy and environmental transition.”