Monda, the all-in-one data monetization platform, announced it has raised $5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Senovo and Acrobator Ventures, with participation from Techstars. The capital will be used to expand operations in the US, grow its partner ecosystem, and enhance its platform to make data monetization easier for companies of all sizes.
Monda’s software helps companies easily start, run, and scale their data business. Seeing rapid growth in 2024, Monda’s all-in-one data monetization platform is already used by over 150 data-as-a-service (DaaS) companies creating more than 6,000 data products. Monda has built key partnerships and integrations with world-leading cloud data marketplaces from Google Cloud, Databricks, and SAP. Since the beginning of the year, the team has doubled to 32 people. Additionally, Monda is opening its first US office in Boston in Fall 2024 to better serve North American customers, which account for 50% of its customer base. Monda was founded by serial entrepreneurs and data industry veterans Thani Shamsi and Richard Hoffmann as a spin-off from Berlin-based Datarade, the largest comparison platform for data providers.
Thani Shamsi, Founder & CEO of Monda, said, “AI has created massive demand for high-quality and unique datasets for training models. Companies have realized that there’s a huge business opportunity in monetizing their proprietary data, but many are struggling to navigate an increasingly complex global data market. I’ve seen these challenges first-hand working for a data provider. We created Monda to make it extremely easy for any company to start and build a safe, fast-growing, and sustainable data business – fueling the AI revolution.”
AI companies are rushing to secure access to proprietary datasets to train and refine their models, prompting data-rich companies like Reddit, Shutterstock, and Yelp to strike multi-million dollar AI data licensing deals. Yet technical, legal, and operational challenges are keeping companies from monetizing their data assets: Building a successful data-as-a-service business involves creating data products, integrating with a multitude of data marketplaces, training a data salesforce, managing cross-cloud data sharing, and handling data subscriptions.
Mona Gindler, Partner at Senovo, said, “As buying and monetizing data is entering the mainstream, data providers need better tools to handle the increasing complexity of the data market. Monda helps them reach more customers while reducing operational efforts, putting the company in a great position to lead this emerging software category. Thani and Richard have built a fantastic team and culture in Berlin, and we are excited to support their expansion into the US with the new Boston office.”
Monda’s data monetization platform has three key differentiators: Firstly, the product is easy-to-use, enabling business users to create data products and publish them on their own data storefront or data marketplaces in clicks. Secondly, Monda’s all-in-one vertical SaaS approach enables companies to run and manage their entire data business on one platform. Thirdly, customers value Monda’s world-class service and support from an international success team and data monetization experts. Part of the seed funding will be used to further develop data integrations with cloud platforms, support unstructured data products, and release additional regulatory compliance features.
Richard Hoffmann, Founder & President of Monda, said, “Opening our first US office in Boston marks a pivotal moment for Monda, our US customers, and for me personally. I’m currently relocating with my family from Germany to the United States, in order to fully dedicate myself to the success and growth of our US customer base and our local team. The US has always been our most important market as a hotbed of innovation in data and AI.”
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