Deal focus: Treasure Data helps businesses reach the cloud

When Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) committed $10 million to Treasure Data, it represented a show of faith in the future of commercial big data that was strong enough to lure the investor outside of its domestic stomping ground. The US-headquartered company was founded by Japanese entrepreneurs and maintains offices in Tokyo and Korea - but offered a rare inroad to the sometimes impenetrable talent pool of large-scale analytics.

"For them to think outside of their comfort zone is humbling," says Kiyoto Tamura, vice president of marketing at Treasure Data. "I think of it as a reflection of their confidence in our ability to build up not just in Japan, but beyond." INCJ's investment contributed to a $25 million Series C round alongside SBI and several existing backers - Sierra Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, AME Cloud Ventures, IT-Farm, Dentsu Digital Investment, and Bill Tai. The company previously received $15 million in Series B funding led by Scale in January 2015. Total funding to date amounts to $54 million.

Founded in 2011 as interest in big data started to grow, Treasure Data develops cloud-based platforms that are used in the analytical processing of log data from web, mobile, and other sources. It had 200 clients as of September.

"We noticed a proliferation of highly advanced technology to handle petabytes and exabytes of data, but in reality, people struggled to make these pieces of technology work together, and it required a lot of technical talent which outside of Silicon Valley is few and far between," Tamura says. "We asked internally how we can enable businesses that are not Facebook, Amazon or Google to leverage their own data to leverage their own data to deliver a much better customer experience."

This service is offered through a focus on a well-packaged, end-to-end cloud data platform that uses customer data to help company decision makers make the right strategic calls. INCJ, with an eye on the Japanese market, recognized the global expansion potential of this business model after a string of successes with major clients, including Tokyo-based digital entertainment products specialist Pioneer.

While Treasure Data has worked with several of Japan's Fortune 500 companies, including Subaru, the heart of its value proposition has always been simplifying data management for the operators that need it most - the small to medium-sized enterprises that can't afford to tinker with an unmarketable gimmick.

"Unlike the previous generation of customer experience management, this is not just about having a system as a record of who the customers are, but being able to combine data coming from many sources," adds Tamura. "Phase one of the big data revolution was just getting all the technology out there, but now we're maturing and making sure it's not just an experiment and that it will deliver tangible business results."

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• Technology
• Early-stage
• North America
• Japan
• Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ)
• USA