OpenDataSoft, a global data company offering publishing and sharing solutions for the private and public sector, today announced a $5.5M Series A round of financing. Funding 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 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.
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 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.
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.
Recruit sales and marketing teams in North America for both the public and private sectors following the opening of a North American headquarters in Boston.
ABOUT OPENDATASOFT
Founded in 2011 in France, OpenDataSoft has built an industry-leading turnkey SaaS data publishing and sharing platform designed for the easy transformation of data into services for both the public and private sectors alike. It is a top-performing platform capable of processing data streams in real-time. With headquarters in Boston and Paris, OpenDataSoft powers data sharing portals for the City of Paris, the Portuguese Ministry of Health, the Swiss National Railway Company, and cities and towns in the Research Triangle in North Carolina.
ABOUT ASTER CAPITAL
Aster is a venture capital firm that is organized as a business hub – a new generation of growth accelerator for startups. Resolutely serving entrepreneurs that are looking to establish new industry models (particularly in the energy, smart industries and mobility sectors), the Aster Business Hub is a complete ecosystem of opportunities supporting growth companies in their development. By mobilising the support of industrial investors in its funds, coupled with a significant international presence (San Francisco, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Nairobi and Paris), Aster acts as a catalyst for venture rounds, market access and geographic expansion. Currently, Aster manages over 300 million dollars in funds raised from major global groups and institutions. For 16 years, Aster has invested in more than 50 startups, including Solairedirect (acquired by Engie in 2015) and ConnectBlue (acquired by u-blox in 2014).
ABOUT SALESFORCE VENTURES
Salesforce Ventures – Salesforce’s corporate investment group – invests in the next generation of enterprise technology to help companies connect with their customers in entirely new ways. Portfolio companies receive funding as well as access to the world’s largest cloud ecosystem and the guidance of Salesforce’s innovators and executives. With Salesforce Ventures, portfolio companies can also leverage Salesforce’s expertise in corporate philanthropy by joining Pledge 1% to make giving back part of their business model. Salesforce has invested in more than 150 enterprise cloud startups since 2009.
For more information, please visit www.salesforce.com/ventures.
ABOUT AURINVEST
Aurinvest is a venture capital fund founded in 2001. It is managed and funded by over fifty entrepreneurs and business leaders, alongside institutional investors. Aurinvest invests in high growth companies or ventures on the edge of an exciting journey. The fund accompanies founders in building successful companies. Aurinvest invests primarily in technology and life science companies.
For more information, visit www.aurinvest.com.
ABOUT ADER FINANCE
Ader Finance is the premier independent advisory firm for French technology entrepreneurs. Ader handles fundraising and M&A for the most innovative startups. Our team has completed over 100 successful transactions in software, mobile, media, e-commerce, IT and telecoms.
