Ethyca Raises $7.5M to Empower Privacy-First Development | Fides

Ethyca Advances Data Protection with New Funding and Open-Source Tools

Ethyca, a technology startup specializing in privacy-by-design solutions, is expanding its capabilities in the realm of data protection through significant new developments.

The company is initiating two key actions: the release of an open-source developer toolkit named Fides, and the securing of $7.5 million in additional funding to bolster its ongoing development and commercialization efforts.

Funding Details and Investor Support

This funding represents an extension to the company’s Series A round from June 2020, which totaled $13.5 million. The extension brings the total Series A investment to $21 million.

The investment comes from existing stakeholders, including Lee Fixel, IA Ventures, Lachy Groom’s LGF, and Table Management (Bill Ackman). To date, Ethyca has raised a total of $27.5 million.

Ethyca currently serves a growing clientele, including prominent organizations such as Away, IDEO, and InVision.

The Genesis of Fides and the Importance of Privacy

According to Founder and CEO Cillian Kieran, the development of Fides was the initial impetus for establishing Ethyca. He recognized in 2018 that privacy was evolving into a crucial component of digital service development and operation.

This shift was driven not only by increasingly stringent data protection regulations and cybersecurity concerns, but also by a growing user awareness regarding data usage practices.

Privacy by Design: A Core Principle

A fundamental concept underpinning Ethyca’s approach is “privacy by design,” which emphasizes the importance of integrating data protection measures from the outset of system development.

This proactive approach ensures that privacy is a foundational element, rather than an afterthought.

Introducing Fides: An Open-Source Definition Language

While Ethyca’s APIs facilitate privacy monitoring and compliance within existing workflows, Fides empowers developers to build privacy directly into their code. Ethyca describes Fides as an open-source language for defining and configuring privacy constructs within data and software systems.

The initial release includes two open-source tools: Fides Ops, which orchestrates privacy rights across an organization’s data infrastructure, and Fides Control, which validates privacy rules during the CI/CD process.

Integrating Privacy into the CI/CD Pipeline

“We have effectively integrated privacy into the CI/CD pipeline,” Kieran explained. He draws a parallel to companies like Snyk, which proactively identifies security vulnerabilities before code deployment.

“Fides can perform a similar function for privacy,” he stated. The increasing valuation of companies like Snyk underscores the growing emphasis on addressing security and data protection at the DevOps level.

Fides’ Capabilities: Detecting and Automating Privacy Compliance

Fides can detect instances where code simultaneously accesses user behavior, data, and location information. If such access is prohibited by business rules, Fides flags the code for correction before deployment.

Furthermore, the toolkit can automate data rights requests, such as unsubscribing or data deletion, processes that are often time-consuming and manual.

Ethyca’s Pro Tools and Existing Integrations

Ethyca’s commercial tools, Ethyca Pro, currently integrate with approximately 700 applications to monitor data protection and privacy policy adherence.

The company serves both private companies and larger, publicly traded enterprises and technology firms, some of which prefer to remain unnamed.

Broad Database and Platform Support

Fides is compatible with a wide range of database platforms, including Amazon DynamoDB and Redshift, Snowflake, Databricks, MongoDB, MariaDB, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.

Slack and GitHub have also expressed their support for the Fides open-source community.

Future Development and Investment

The new funding will enable Ethyca to expand its team and continue developing its commercial offerings, while simultaneously contributing to the evolution of privacy-focused development practices.

Industry Perspective on Developer-First Privacy

Brad Gillespie of IA Ventures commented, “Our investment and continued enthusiasm for Ethyca reflect the necessity of a developer-first approach to privacy and compliance as code.”

“The launch of Fides represents three years of dedicated effort and marks a crucial step towards establishing an open standard for privacy. Ethyca’s proactive thinking positions them to address the complex challenges that will shape data privacy discussions in the coming decade. We are proud to support their vision of integrating privacy into the Software Development Life Cycle through open-source developer tools.”