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In the rush to adopt AI and gain a competitive edge, companies are investing heavily. They’re spending millions, sometimes even billions, on high-performance AI models to develop applications that boost efficiencies both internally and externally. Although their efforts are speeding up, many teams are finding that these investments aren’t yielding the expected results or ROI.
The main issue lies with data. Many companies are struggling to organize and unify their proprietary information. This is where CData comes in, offering solutions to address this ‘integration’ challenge. The company recently secured $350 million in growth funding from Warburg Pincus and Accel. This funding aims to enhance their work, enabling engineers and business users to access and integrate data from any source or system.
Amit Sharma, Co-founder and CEO of CData, emphasized that data access is critical for AI, ML, and advanced analytics strategies, but often presents a significant obstacle to innovation. Partnering with Warburg Pincus and Accel, both experienced in similar company profiles, will help CData advance their business and bring leading-edge solutions to the market.
Prior to this funding round, CData had raised $160 million from Updata Partners.
So what does CData offer?
Today’s enterprise technology stack is a complex web of systems and applications. Companies use various platforms, from CRMs to SaaS tools, to keep their operations running smoothly. Some organizations use over 100 different applications, creating a massive volume of data. However, this data often remains siloed within its source tools, making it difficult to utilize effectively without significant engineering work. This fragmentation hampers AI and analytics projects.
Founded in 2014 as a spin-off from /n Software, CData addresses this issue with a connectivity platform featuring purpose-built connectors for both data replication and live data access.
For data replication, these connectors sync information from databases, apps, APIs, data warehouses, and enterprise management systems, unifying siloed data to support AI and BI systems. For live connectivity, the platform provides direct system-to-system access, allowing data teams and business units to consolidate, analyze, and report on data in real-time.
Over the past decade, CData has developed a library of over 300 standards-based data connectors, used by data and IT leaders at more than 7,000 global organizations, including Office Depot, Holiday Inn, Tesco Bank, and FedEx. Many data management providers and independent software vendors have embedded CData connectors into their platforms to meet their customers’ data integration needs.
Leading companies like Google, Salesforce, and Informatica rely on CData to deliver expanded connectivity for their customers, saving development time and costs while enhancing the customer experience.
Despite growing more than 40% year-over-year, CData acknowledges that there’s still much work to be done. With the increased demand for AI, companies need sophisticated integration tools more than ever. CData aims to meet this demand by expanding their connectivity solutions, particularly for their OEM business, which is essential for modern software platforms with AI strategies that require extensive data integration.
With new funding valuing CData at $800 million, the company plans to invest in operations, go-to-market strategies, and product development. These efforts aim to bring their existing and new connectors to more enterprises, simplifying data integration for modern AI initiatives.
As the AI market evolves, CData is committed to providing the best connectivity solutions for the systems and applications customers use for their modern data needs. Additionally, they continue to explore how AI advancements can enhance their products, targeting nearly $100 million in annual recurring revenue by year-end.
According to Precedence Research, the global data integration market was valued at $13.6 billion in 2023, with a projected annual growth rate of 12.32%, reaching $43.38 billion by 2033. This growth is mainly driven by the increasing volume and variety of data. Competing with CData in this space are companies like HighTouch, Syncari, and Matillion.