whylabs Raises $10M Series A to Revolutionize AI Observability

WhyLabs Secures $10 Million Series A Funding to Advance AI Observability

WhyLabs, a machine learning startup originating from the Allen Institute, is dedicated to assisting data science teams in overseeing the performance of their AI models and the data pipelines that support them. Having previously secured a $4 million seed round, the company has now announced a $10 million Series A funding round, jointly led by Defy Partners and AI Fund, spearheaded by Andrew Ng.

The Rise of MLOps and WhyLabs' Position

The field of “MLOps” has rapidly evolved from a nascent concept to a well-defined category in recent years. Consequently, a growing number of both startups and established companies are striving to establish a strong presence within this emerging market.

According to Alessya Visnjic, CEO of WhyLabs, there has been a significant shift in focus. “We’ve observed a genuine paradigm shift over the past year.” Maintaining machine learning models post-deployment now presents a greater challenge than their initial development and implementation.

Challenges in AI Model Maintenance and Data Trustworthiness

Every organization developing AI models encounters difficulties with transparency and observability in their production environments, as Visnjic points out. Training a model is one aspect, but ensuring its continued accurate performance and the reliability of its data sources is a distinct and complex undertaking.

Models can continue to generate predictions, even incorrect ones, if the input data becomes compromised – perhaps due to alterations in an API, for example.

AI Fund's Perspective on WhyLabs

“ML engineers require enhanced tools to guarantee data quality throughout the entire lifecycle of a machine learning project,” stated Ng. “AI Fund is pleased to support WhyLabs, whose open-source logging library and AI observability platform simplify real-time logging and monitoring of ML deployments.”

SaaS Platform and Privacy Focus

Over the last year, WhyLabs has streamlined the usability of its service, largely through the introduction of its SaaS platform, which includes a free, self-service option.

Visnjic explained that much of their SaaS development has centered on reducing configuration complexity, enabling monitoring in a manner similar to monitoring compute instances. Privacy has been a central consideration, given the monitoring of both data and model health.

Data Security and Statistical Fingerprints

WhyLabs operates without physically moving user data. Instead, the service captures statistical fingerprints that characterize the data and models. Addressing the challenge of monitoring highly sensitive, proprietary data was a primary focus following the company’s launch.

This involves not only data movement within a company’s infrastructure but also robust permission management to prevent data leaks.

“SaaS isn’t solely about enabling logging,” Visnjic emphasized. “It’s about providing a platform that prioritizes privacy and integrates seamlessly with any machine learning stack.”

Integrations and Growth

The team has also dedicated the past year to developing integrations with major cloud platforms, machine learning frameworks, and data services, including Kafka, Spark, and Ray.

Maria Karaivanova, COO and co-founder of WhyLabs, noted that the number of models monitored by the service has tripled since the SaaS platform’s launch just two weeks ago.

Future Plans and Funding Allocation

The newly acquired funding will be used to expand both the engineering and go-to-market teams. Engineering efforts will focus on improving support for streaming data and real-time AI applications.

Furthermore, WhyLabs intends to invest in an evangelism team to educate customers about MLOps best practices.

Defy Partners' Vision for WhyLabs

“WhyLabs is uniquely positioned to revolutionize AI governance and MLOps management for enterprises through the rapid adoption of its observability platform and data logging library,” said Neil Sequeira, founder and partner at Defy Partners, who has joined the WhyLabs board of directors. “They have created a central control point for operating AI applications, positively impacting both application developers and the vast number of individuals affected by AI daily.”