Well-funded machine learning startup DataRobot Inc. has just added $100 million more to its war chest via a late-stage round of funding led by Meritech and Sapphire Ventures.
DFJ Growth and existing investors NEA, IA Ventures and Intel Capital also participated in the Series D round, which brings DataRobot’s total funding to date to $225 million.
DataRobot claims it has already made an impact in the enterprise thanks to its promise of democratizing artificial intelligence technology. Specifically, the company automates the process of creating machine learning models so that its customers can better leverage their data.
It provides a simple drag-and-drop interface designed to accommodate users of varying technical backgrounds. With it, users can upload the files they wish to process, highlight the elements of interest (such as sales numbers in a financial dataset) and let DataRobot find the most suitable algorithm, which can then be baked into any application to provide new analytics capabilities.
DataRobot envisions numerous applications for its software, ranging from banks that need to run risk algorithms to determine whether or not to issue a loan to healthcare providers looking for a model to determine the risk of diabetes or heart disease. The company even claims its software was used by the New York Mets baseball team to aid its draft picks during the 2015 season.
DataRobot’s technology is especially promising given the serious skills shortage when it comes to data scientists and developers who’re experienced at building machine learning models, said Holger Mueller, principal analyst and vice president of Constellation Research Inc.
“Building machine learning and AI models is hard for enterprises, so any software platform which can automate the process reliably will do well and will capture the attention of CxOs planning to automate their next-generation applications,” Mueller said. “And the more automated these services can be, the more desired they will be.”
“Since day one, DataRobot’s vision has been to democratize AI with automation to deliver massive value across every industry,” Chris Lynch, an early DataRobot investor and chairman of the company’s board, said in a statement. “Its unprecedented growth is a testament to its dedication to this vision and its ability to capitalize on the massive market opportunity.”
DataRobot hasn’t said how it intends to use its new funds, but an expansion of its workforce seems to be a sure bet. The company currently lists 93 open positions on its website, including vacancies for experts who can lead go-to market strategies in industries such as healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing and retail.
Photo: DataRobot/Facebook
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