Today we're releasing the newest update to our 2017 Privacy Tech Vendor Report, v1.4, a resource designed to help you assess the many privacy technology vendors — both new and old, big and small — that are emerging in the marketplace. Since our first release of the report back in January, which seems like an eternity at this point, the number of vendors in the report has nearly doubled: from 51 to 99. I can assure you there are already more vendors emerging (seemingly, by the day), and we'll continue to add them next year when we release the next full iteration, v2.0.
Of course, the EU General Data Protection Regulation has been a huge driver in the space, as companies ramp up and begin to operationalize their compliance strategies in time for next May. Whether organizations need to discover what data they have, locate where it's stored, map data flows, manage customer consent, scan their websites for online trackers, make their day-to-day assessment needs more scalable, anonymize collected data, rapidly respond to data incidents, or protect internal communications, all in the name of reducing risk and maximizing compliance, there are many solutions out there to help accomplish this.
Some of the companies in the report are well established and have been around for a long time. Some have been in the space as governance-risk-compliance solutions for years. Others are new, rapidly rising, and leveraging new technologies, like artificial intelligence or encrypted enterprise communications services.
Maybe you're just looking for a specific solution to a thorny problem. Or, maybe you need a suite of tools to scale up for prime time. There's a good chance there's a solution worth looking into in this report.
Over the course of the last year, I've had the chance to speak to dozens of individuals working for these vendors. Many of them are working hard to create and improve upon their technology to help the privacy office and the enterprise as a whole. In some cases they're seeking feedback and are eager to improve their services even more.
No doubt, venture capitalists and investors are seeing value in privacy and compliance technology. Serious funding is pouring into the marketplace right now.
No doubt, venture capitalists and investors are seeing value in privacy and compliance technology. Serious funding is pouring into the marketplace right now. In recent months, we've seen a lot of action. Privitar, a U.K.-based data analytics platform, raised $16 million in Series A funding to expand its platform into the U.S. market. Protenus, a Baltimore-based health care startup, raised $3 million to expand its products offerings and grow its sales, while Irish-based software company Automated Intelligence raised 1.5 million GBP to expand its operations ahead of the GDPR.
And these are just a few examples of the money that's entering the privacy technology space.
The market is also maturing in other ways. Late last month, a group of vendors announced the formation of the Alliance of Global Privacy Solution Providers, which includes a suite of privacy tech vendors that aim to help educate privacy professionals on making informed decisions in the market. I recently spoke with Richard Purcell, who serves as an advisor to the alliance, and will have more to share about this development in the coming week.
Whether you're ramping up for the GDPR, trying to make your privacy office more scalable and efficient, or trying to bolster your compliance initiatives, there are vendors out there that can help. With so many entering the space, finding out which one suits you best may be difficult, but hopefully this report can help guide you to see what's out there or to make a more informed decision.
We want this resource to help you do your jobs better and always welcome feedback from you, our members, the practitioners in the trenches. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with feedback, questions, comments, or suggestions. And if you're planning to attend the our Privacy. Security. Risk. conference in San Diego in less than two weeks, be sure to check out our Privacy Tech Vendor Showcases. We have three sessions in which we've paired a privacy tech vendor with privacy pros who are actually using the technology to meet their privacy goals. The sessions are here, here, and here.
Or, if you're on the other side of the pond and plan to attend the IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress next month, be sure to check our breakout session, Operationalizing Privacy Tech — A Practitioner's Perspective, with ShanShan Pa, CIPP/E, CIPP/US, CIPM, FIP, Alibaba Global Compliance & Privacy, and HCL Technologies Chief Privacy and Data Protection Officer Joao Torres Barreiro, CIPP/E. We'd love to hear from you and meet you in person to discuss your insights and needs and help answer your questions.