Helsinki-based Ellie.ai, a product design and collaboration platform for data teams, announced on Thursday, August 31, that it has secured €2.5M in a seed round of funding.
The Finland-based startup says it will use the money to develop new workflows, broaden its accessibility within organisations, and provide user-friendly tools for designing data products.
Investors supporting Ellie.ai
The investment was co-led by Amsterdam’s Newion and Reykjavík-based Crowberry Capital.
Newion is a venture capital firm that specialises in European B2B software startups and scale-ups with global aspirations. Founded in 2000, the firm has invested in over 60 startups. Newion IV, their latest fund, is supported by the EU’s InvestEU fund.
John Sjölander, Partner at Newion, says, “Meeting Ellie we found a team that had decided to approach the data world from a unique angle. They put the needs of humans before the needs of the computer. The opportunity to democratise how data is being used and understood within the enterprise is something we’re very excited about.”
Crowberry Capital is a venture capital firm based in Iceland and Denmark and concentrates on investing in early-stage startups in the Nordic region.
With a €90M second fund, Crowberry aims to partner with the next generation of tech leaders in the Nordic tech ecosystem, particularly focusing on companies that are solving significant problems and creating a positive impact on the world.
Jenny Ruth Hrafnsdottir, Founding Partner at Crowberry Capital, adds, “Ellie.ai is a standout startup in the data space. Their drive to reshape how enterprises manage their data initiatives aligns with our commitment to support startups that redefine their markets.”
“Data modelling reinvented”
Founded in 2019, Ellie.ai is on a mission to improve the success rate of data initiatives. The company claims to focus on addressing cultural challenges as over 90 per cent of Chief Data Officers report culture as the primary bottleneck in getting value from data projects.
They aim to foster a data-driven mindset, encourage collaboration, ensure data ethics, support continuous learning, and gain leadership backing to help organisations overcome these cultural obstacles and make better use of their data.
Johannes Hovi, CEO & co-founder at Ellie.ai, says, “If we look at the Modern Data Stack there are hundreds of tools to help you automate, build, and document your data architecture. Despite this, the percentage of data projects that provide a clear return on investment hasn’t changed.”
“People get lost in their complex data tools and stacks. We believe the most productive data products start from people, culture, and the need to drive better collaboration across the organisation,” adds Hovi.
The company claims to have gained traction in response to growing market demand by using its expertise in conceptual data modelling. This expertise has led to the creation of a tech-supported Data Product Design workflow, enhancing collaboration between businesses and data teams significantly.
Hannu Järvi, CSO & co-founder at Ellie.ai, says, “You can think of Ellie as ‘Figma for data teams’, an easy collaboration platform, but designed specifically for large-scale data initiatives.”
“From template-based brainstorming workflows to seamless integrations with other tools, and ease of use of a modern collaboration platform – where everything is connected, easily shareable, and secure,” adds Järvi.
Ellie.ai says it has achieved significant growth and now serves more than 50 enterprise customers worldwide.
Source : Silicon Canals