Alternative data insights startup Synaptic secures $20 million in funding

The current capital infusion will not only increase its reach extensively and help to expand to more markets and geographies but also help to focus on doubling its current headcount of approximately 80 people in the next 18 months.

“There is a huge secular trend of investment companies, funds and corporates, understanding that they need access to more data to make better decisions,” Rohit Razdan, co-Founder, Synaptic told ET. “The first data revolution was all about ingesting your own data, and finding insights from that. But people have come to realise that there is a vast amount of data that is accessible outside of their own companies, something that we call alternative data and that is becoming increasingly important and necessary to make better decisions.”

He said that as this trend accelerates, there will be increased adoption of data and increased adoption of platforms like Synaptic which provides a data and insights platform to investors looking to leverage diverse alternative datasets in sourcing and tracking companies of interest, market research, and portfolio monitoring.

The company said it combines technology, machine learning, and finance to bring sophisticated alternative data insights to decision-makers.

“Valor has a long history of leveraging alternative data to enhance decision making,” Antonio Gracias, the founder and CEO of Valor said in a statement. “As the world becomes more chaotic, the importance of alternative data only grows. We are excited to support the Synaptic team as they enhance the accessibility and utility of alternative data.”

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However, challenges pertaining to regulations concerning data loom large over the space. Razdan said that Synaptic has its own internal processes and legal teams to make sure that it is handling data appropriately and not compromising on user privacy in any way.

“We don’t gather private data from users. But even if we have anonymized data sets, we want to make sure that they are secured, that we are compliant with all forms of regulations, and we don’t compromise the user’s privacy. That’s recently important for the industry and for us that has been the way since day one,” he added.

Synaptic was incubated as the data and analytics team at Vy Capital, a $6 billion AuM global technology investment company.It became an independent company in 2016. Previously, the company has raised $6 million in seed and Series A funding from Ribbit Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Vy Capital Management.

Razdan added that research and data is an over $100 billion industry that has just begun using alternative data. “We want to be the partner of choice for any organization that wants to leverage alternative datasets,” he said.