Suridata helps companies find their needles in data haystacks

In recent years, companies are relying more and more on cloud-based services to store their data. As they grow in size and scope, it’s something that if not managed from the start could cause real problems for organizations down the line.

“Ten years ago, data was stored on local servers and it was really easy to know where the data was, who can access it, and make sure it’s secure,” explained Lee Kappon, CEO and co-founder of Suridata. “During the last few years, we’ve extended to net applications, clouds, and working from home on different laptops. The data is exploding. You have no idea where it is, who uploaded it, what permissions, or if it’s (on a) public cloud. You probably wouldn’t know.”

Founded in 2019, Suridata uses natural language progressing (NLP) to help organizations see and gain control over their specific sensitive data. By providing a clear view of what is where, and how sensitive it is, companies can easily manage the data that is uploaded to cloud services that may each have different privacy settings, protections, or vulnerabilities. Together with Eyal Tirkel (CTO) and Haviv Ohayon (COO), the trio wanted to help companies take action to protect, remove, or access the data they’re storing and comply with all necessary privacy regulations.

“I heard this challenge so many times that I realized this was something that needed taking care of,” she told CTech.

Suridata - which got its name from the African animal Suricata who warns its family members when it senses danger - currently has tens of customers who rely on its NLP technology. According to Kappon, it can be adopted as a full-stack solution or deployed into the organization and is currently used by companies in the financial, tech, SaaS, and health industries. It charges an annual subscription based on the number of data sources it organizes, meaning its costs can range from anything between $50k per year to $300k.

The company has been off to a strong start. In 2020, it graduated from the Israeli accelerator program 8200 for Startups by EISP. In January of this year, it secured $2.1 million in seed to build its product and deploy its technology to more customers. “We’re not focusing on a specific vertical - we want our algorithms to get exposed to as much data as possible because the algorithms are being improved over time,” Kappon explained. While she can’t disclose most of her customers’ names, she confirmed to CTech that Deloitte is one of them. The next stage is penetrating the U.S market.

“No one realizes how big the problem is, and that’s what’s bothering them,” she told CTech. “We decided we’re going to change the world of how sensitive data is being discovered.”