Data privacy software company Privitar has closed a $40 million Series B funding round.
The round was led by global venture capital firm Accel, with participation from existing investors Partech, Salesforce Ventures, 24Haymarket and IQ Capital. Seth Pierrepont, partner at Accel, will join Privitar’s board of directors.
Privitar will use the investment to accelerate the development of its privacy engineering products.
Its customers include some of the world’s best-known brands, such as HSBC, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS Digital) and BT.
Privitar CEO Jason du Preez said: “The world is increasingly aware of the importance of protecting private information and privacy engineering is becoming intrinsic to the way organizations manage and share data.
“This investment will enable us to scale rapidly in response to global demand and help our customers realise the enormous benefits of data-driven decision making, much faster and with less risk.”
Following high-profile events like the Equifax breach and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, consumers around the world are increasingly concerned with how enterprises are handling their personal data.
Additionally, regulation and consumer rights around data protection are growing, with the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States.
Seth Pierrepont from Accel added: “There has been a noticeable increase in enterprises’ appetite for buying data privacy technology in recent years.
“Through the team’s deep domain expertise and close ties to academia, Privitar has positioned itself as a thought leader in privacy innovation.
“We’re excited to be joining Privitar on its mission of becoming the standard for enterprise data privacy.”