HOME is Where the Innovation Is: The Rise of Data Compliance Startups

Data is everywhere, and every second it transforms the world. As digital is changing our lives, the global story of data management and protection has become centre stage for institutions and any businesses that want to operate today. We are redefining strategies around data privacy and compliance – and a whole sector of data compliance startups is leading the way. The big names that instantly come to the mind of every tech enthusiast and investor surfaced in public attention. The latest, Transcend, just got its Series B funding round of $40 million led by StepStone Group, bringing the total to $90 million. This unicorn was announced by the company as the largest capital round for a data compliance startup. Questioned about whether the company was just hitting its stride as there’s a growing importance for data compliance solutions, the CEO of Transcend, Chris Dwyer, says that his company is just beginning to win an increasing part of a growing market. The overall story of the innovations that ‘come home’ to this specialty area is notable as well.

What is Driving the Surge in Data Compliance Startups?

Every week, there are new data breaches. Every day, there are news headlines about the latest privacy scandal. It seems like every month brings with it a new privacy-centric law or regulation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States. Despite our society’s best efforts, each time we get closer to achieving control over data, there are new developments that threaten its security. As of today, data compliance has never been more important, more accelerated or more costly. Businesses the world over will spend more than $1.5 trillion complying with data privacy and data protection regulations this year. And yet the challenge remains one of the most difficult to solve. As a result, startups like Transcend are proposing new technologies to help businesses and individuals comply with privacy laws, creating a new home for digital data security.

The Transcend Effect: A Beacon for the Industry

Transcend’s visionary approach to data compliance, with its simple, effective, and scalable tools, has also been a big draw for investors. Other backers include the New York-based financial giant StepStone Group, which is also betting big on the start-up’s mission and execution so far. With more companies taking up residence in the halls of data compliance, Transcend can serve as a valuable precedent for success.

A HOME for Investment: The Role of Funding in Advancing Data Compliance

Investing in startups like Transcend that are focused on data compliance ensures that the important work to innovate the limits of what’s possible in digital security is accelerated. Transcend has received close to $90 million in funding. That infrastructure means it is ready to take the next leap, whether that’s advancing its product or expanding its market. It’s not just the companies that receive this capital that benefit, but also the infrastructure for digital trust and security – for a safer internet for all of us.

Looking Ahead: The Future HOME of Data Compliance

That evolving landscape will itself lead to evolving challenges and opportunities in the field of data compliance. Whether it involves traditional startups such as Transcend, or the travel management software that my Tiger Global co-founder Greg laid out in the airport, I look forward to the digital future that they are helping to build.

The Importance of Reinventing the HOME of Data Compliance

Equally, as the digital sphere grows ever-bigger, data privacy and compliance become not just a regulatory task but an expectation of all users. With visionary firms such as Transcend reimagining the way businesses and users feel about their digital home, it’s a transformation that relies on the continued influx of financial and intellectual capital to reach new frontiers.

Understanding the Role of HOME in Data Compliance Startups

At its essence, ‘home’ in the case of data compliance startups such as Transcend doesn’t just mean a locality; it doesn’t even mean that the real estate of the data compliance startup’s digital platform is hosted there. Instead, ‘home’ means creating a safe framework for digital economy activity, a digital home to provide digital economy users and companies with the safety, comfort and predictability of a physical home. Data compliance startups aspire to provide a digital home for a digital economy – a zone of digital stability and predictability where data is protectable, privacy is credible, and compliance is ‘baked in’. This relational extension of the digital ‘home’ to embody the unspoken values of safety, dependability and compliance is what drives innovation. Startups such as Transcend promote these values to make our digital homes safer and to advance a future where data becomes more trustworthy and transparent. In fact, the mission to store and handle data in good faith is what makes these systems feel like the digital home that users and businesses deserve. This eradication of the ‘Wild West’ of data fosters the innovation and privacy our future deserves.