In Raito, former Collibra team members cite a ‘paradigm shift’, raise €4 million

Belgian startup Raito, not to be confused with Ratio, has raised €4 million in a seed funding round. The startup aims to help data teams improve productivity through the simplification of data access management. The company emerges from stealth with this announcement and while no details were provided as to what the €4 million is earmarked for, one can assume that it’s meant for further product development or to support a recruitment drive, or both.

Formed by Collibra’s former Product Manager for Data Privacy Bart Vandekerckhove and Vice President for Engineering Dieter Wachters, Raito’s €4 million seed round was co-led by Dawn Capital and Crane Venture Partners with a host of angel investors hailing from Collibra, Showpad, and Harbr participating.

Addressing the wild west that data access requests have become, so much so that some data teams have simply thrown their collective hands in the air and said ‘access for all, job done’, Raito’s approach provides data analysts faster access to data, removes the burdensome data access requests from data engineers, and gives the keepers of the data keys the tools to control, monitor and report on data usage. Ultimately, this helps companies avert the consequences of not meeting privacy regulations and avoid any painful data breaches that have become all too popular in today’s news cycle.

“As data management becomes more complex, companies are having to choose between innovation and security – it’s that dichotomy that acts as a straitjacket for businesses where data is their most competitive asset,” explained Vandekerckhove. “I’m extremely excited Raito is now able to emerge from stealth mode and we can get our productivity-first solution into the hands of customers.”

Raito is now launching to customers in Europe and North America, targeting mid-sized organisations, with between 100 and 3000 people, and intends to stake its own claim in the $11.7 billion data access management industry.

On the investment, Dawn Capital Partner Henry Mason commented, “The data access management industry is ripe for a shake-up with existing solutions just not fit for purpose. Having witnessed their impressive achievements at Collibra over many years, we’re proud to support Bart, Dieter and the team in their mission to rethink data access management and in so doing to unlock the immense potential of data-driven organisations.”