OpenDataSoft, a Paris-based data company offering publishing and sharing solutions for the private and public sector, today announced a $5.5 million Series A round of financing. The capital comes from Aster Capital and Salesforce Ventures, with a follow-on investment from Aurinvest. The funding will primarily be used to expand OpenDataSoft’s operations globally, including continued expansion in France and Europe and acceleration of its North American business development.
OpenDataSoft was founded in 2011 and has built a user-friendly, cloud-based data publishing and sharing platform to allow data to be easily visualized and reused by citizens, startups, or teams within city departments or organizations via APIs. OpenDataSoft’s platform offers more advanced features – such as real-time data processing – which are specifically relevant for Smart City and IoT projects. Check out the short video below this article in order to learn more about how OpenDataSoft works.
Jean-Marc Lazard, Co-Founder and CEO of OpenDataSoft explains: “Our platform, including our Open Data, Smart City, and even internal data exchange solutions, is used worldwide, seen in cities, governments, and private enterprises. Our philosophy is to work closely with our users, evolving the platform while also anticipating future trends in digital transformation. We believed it was the right time for us to seek additional funding in order to bring our platform to all four corners of the globe.”
OpenDataSoft was founded five years ago in Paris, France and has since grown to serve over 80 customers in ten countries, including the Portuguese Ministry of Health, the Swiss National Railway Company, and communities in the Research Triangle, including the City and County of Durham (NC). In France, OpenDataSoft counts the City of Paris, the Ministry of Education, and some of the largest French multinational corporations, such as Veolia and Saint-Gobain, among its customers.
The data company plans to leverage the new funding to reinforce the research and development team in France, which currently represents half of the Paris office, OpenDataSoft’s global headquarters. In addition, the young company plans to expand into new markets in Europe, including Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K while continuing to grow in existing markets, such as Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and beyond. This will follow the recruitment of regional business development specialists in these regions.
Says Fabio Lancellotti, Partner at Aster Capital stated: “We believe that the way we plan, design and improve our cities as well as our daily life within cities will become increasingly a matter of good data management. As part of this revolution – which will gain in momentum over the next few years – we believe that OpenDataSoft, a market leader for data publishing and management in Europe, will also gain this same recognition in the US and Asia in the near future. In four years, OpenDataSoft is already present in ten countries and works with some of the largest industrial groups, leading innovative cities and public administrations. We are excited to start working with them and look forward to see them shaping the future of data management on a global scale.”