Civis Analytics
Deal: $22 million Series A
Investors: The round was led by Drive Capital with participation from Verizon Ventures, WPP, and Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.
What they do: Civis Analytics, a data science startup born out of the 2012 Obama campaign, just raised a $22 million Series A (press release). Civis has created a comprehensive SaaS platform for data scientists to help them make data-driven decisions, similar to how the Obama analytics team used data to target voters and help re-elect the president. Since launching in 2013 from Obama campaign veteran Dan Wagner, Civis has grown from 15 to 135 employees, and counts Verizon, Boeing, Airbnb, the American Red Cross and the 2020 U.S. Census among its clients.
"With this round of funding, we'll be able to innovate more quickly, expand our product offerings, and target new sectors," Civis Founder and CEO Dan Wagner said in a statement.
Chris Olsen, co-founder and partner at Drive Capital, will join Civis' board, along with Wagner, Eric Schmidt, and Tim O'Reilly
Other details: Civis launched in 2013 with a seed investment from Schmidt, but has not taken outside investment until this latest round. The startup says it plans to use the funding to increasing hiring and make long-term investments in research and development.
"Civis has far surpassed my expectations from the 2012 campaign," Schmidt said in a statement. "Businesses increasingly need data science to win, and Civis is providing the technology and solutions to help them do that. I joined this round of funding as I continue to believe in what the team is building."
