• Prague-based Keboola helps businesses turn data into money with an end-to-end platform that integrates the entire data stack and automates all infrastructure operations

• Its clients are able to reduce staff working on data infrastructure maintenance to zero and enables any business user to act on data insights thanks to its no-code front end

• Keboola was founded in 2017 and has been bootstrapped until now – the company expects to achieve $8 million revenues in 2022 and at least double that in 2023

Keboola, the data-platform-as-a-service startup, has closed a $4.5 million seed financing round led by Presto Ventures. Joining the round was Reflex Capital, the VC fund of Mall Group founder Ondřej Fryc, as well as a number of prominent angel investors, including Eduard Kučera, founder of Avast, and Tomáš Čupr, founder of Rohlik Group. Up until the current round of funding, Keboola has been entirely self-funded, having been officially founded in 2017 after nearly a decade running in bootstrap mode. Keboola is on track to achieve an annual subscription revenue (or ARR) of more than $8 million in 2022.

Initially restricted to the largest enterprises, the desire to leverage data has now reached the point where a broad range of businesses – even SMEs – are looking to harness data insights, automate data processes, and build apps to unlock the value of data. However, industry analysts consistently note most businesses struggle. Gartner believes 80% of organisations will fail to scale digital business because of outmoded approaches to data and analytics. A core barrier to progress is the price of integrating expensive technical teams within specific business departments. Turning business intelligence into a product is an approach which research by McKinsey indicates can reduce turnaround time by as much as 90%. But data management and infrastructure has conventionally been difficult and expensive.

Keboola’s platform addresses the challenges of complexity and cost currently holding back DataOps. It delivers an end-to-end infrastructure for businesses of any size, with a front end that can be operated by any non-technical business user and back-end API integrations for developers. By integrating the entire data stack and automating all infrastructure operations, Keboola reduces maintenance and management friction and allows organisations to fully focus on turning data into business intelligence and new products. Data engineers are provided with a full-stack, open source platform, which they can easily customise. Business users get a simple-to-use, no-code front end. Keboola brings popular tools from the modern data stack such as dbt, Apache Spark, MLflow, OpenLineage, Jupyter, and Hightouch under one roof, with a single interface wired for enterprise governance.

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Pavel Doležal, co-founder and CEO of Keboola, said: “We believe in the potential of data and AI to fundamentally transform any business. But this requires tons of time and money to build and maintain infrastructure. Today, only Amazon, Google and a handful of other companies are really able to make the most of their data. We want to unlock the data opportunity for all others.”

Keboola’s fully-scalable platform is built on Snowflake, which recommends Keboola as a self-service BI platform in the ‘Powered by Snowflake’ program. In addition, Keboola provides enterprise-grade security and governance. The platform is completely open, allowing outside app integrations and flexible coding language options. These characteristics enable wide customisation possibilities, with the option for organisations to write their own code and components, including machine learning algorithms.

“The priority is to help clients turn data into money. Our platform approach removes infrastructure from the equation and puts the focus on the data. The result is a solution that is like a luxury car with every conceivable option available and the best possible engine in Snowflake. We are strongly influenced by our belief in openness and data mesh principles,” said Doležal.

The company will use the money to accelerate growth in Europe and North America. It currently counts the likes of RBI (restaurants), DXC, ProductBoard, Mall Group, and Rohlik Group among its clients, in diverse fields such as retail, eCommerce, marketing, financial services, and hospitality. Keboola expects to at least double revenues in 2023.

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Use cases include more accurate sales predictions, automation of supply chain logistics, and the speeding up of product and feature development. Mall Group, the leading e-commerce group in Central Europe, has reversed a year-long data analytics backlog and is able to produce 400+ data products and features per year. Sports retailer Sportissimo has achieved a 5% increase in revenue by making 12 million next-day sales predictions daily for over 38,000 products in five countries, leading to significant lowering of out-of-stocks and more accurate, automated supply chain logistics into 190 retail stores.

Přemysl Rubeš, founder of lead investor Presto Ventures, said: “The Keboola team has been ahead of its time with their product. They have done a fantastic job of scaling the company organically and turning Keboola into a cult company within the data analytics and business intelligence community. We are excited to back them to accelerate that growth and win in a global market predicted to reach $655 billion by 2029.”

Keboola is a Data Platform as a Service built on top of Snowflake enabling customers to accelerate their data projects. Keboola believes in empowering everyone to make data-driven decisions. Together with Snowflake, it provides a unique solution for every data-driven company. From small companies to enterprises, across the globe and all segments.

Based in Prague with remote teams around the world, Keboola was founded in 2017 and has raised $4.5 million to date, with investments from Presto Ventures and several prominent angel investors.

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