Immuta wants to make data more visible in a GDPR world

Immuta, a College Park, Md.–based startup that’s looking to help companies and organizations get a better look at the data in the algorithms they’re creating, is looking to grow both in Europe and the U.S. after raising $20 million in Series B funding.

The investment round was led by DFJ Growth, with participation from Dell Technologies Capital and Citi Ventures, as well as existing investors Drive Capital and Greycroft.

Launched in 2015, the startup’s platform looks to provide a central place to work together for data scientists, companies that own data and lawyers or members of a governance team, said CEO Matt Carroll. For organizations building algorithms, those three teams have a “symbiotic relationship,” Carroll said. Yet the influx of data is often stored in disparate places.

Immuta built its platform to improve “access and control,” Carroll said. For data scientists, the platform allows any data source to connect, making it easier to find and use. The central source also enables a better view of what data is going into an algorithm, Carroll said.

The platform also gives lawyers and governance teams a role in the development process, as the platform can apply rules and regulations across data sources to make sure it is used properly. For instance, Carroll said, it can create limits on who can access specific kinds of data within an organization. Such regulations have always been important to the government and for industries like healthcare, and Immuta believes regulations like GDPR will only bring them further into focus.

Carroll said about half of the company’s 34-person team worked in the U.S. intelligence community or other government agencies, and the federal government remains its largest client.

Immuta is also expanding work with financial companies and counts Barclays as a client. It also sees healthcare and transportation as areas of expansion.

Carroll said the company plans to open an office in London and expand in Europe, and it also has offices in Boston and Columbus, Ohio. Meanwhile, the product team will remain at the College Park headquarters, and the company will look to add to its team there. The company is soon moving to a new 10,000 sq. ft. space.