data.world acquires Capsenta to bring the power of knowledge graphs to companies with on-prem data

data.world, a platform for modern data teamwork, today announced that it has acquired Capsenta to enable businesses to securely access, view, and work with on-premises databases in the cloud. Capsenta, a tech startup incubated out of the University of Texas at Austin,  increases the value of companies’ data by enriching it to become a knowledge graph (semantics).

Founded in 2012 by Daniel Miranker and Juan Sequeda, Capsenta’s patented knowledge graph virtualization and modeling technologies create online, business-friendly views of complex data. Teams can now access a single, aligned view of cloud and on-premises data so more of the organization can understand and immediately use it to power better decisions.

The combination of data.world’s modern knowledge graph-based data catalog and consumer-grade UI with Capsenta’s technologies enables enterprises to enter the new era of cloud data management which empowers business users to directly access and analyze their data without extensive IT involvement. Together, these graph technologies enable enterprises to securely leverage the substantial value of their distributed non-cloud data assets in the cloud.

“Enterprise data management and analysis is operating across two different paradigms—cloud and on-premises—and for Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies, it’s going to be a hybrid world for a long time,” said Brett Hurt, co-founder and CEO of data.world. “So I’m very excited about this acquisition because it brings to data.world capabilities that are critical to our enterprise customers, and helps us connect these two worlds together in ways that deliver the benefits of cloud migration while leveraging the value of existing infrastructure investments and on-prem data.”

Capsenta brings to data.world its data integration software Ultrawrap™ and its real-time, collaborative, knowledge graph schema modeling tool Gra.fo. In addition, Capsenta’s three issued patents brings the data.world issued patent portfolio to a total of ten with several additional patent applications in process.

Every large company has accumulated tens, hundreds or even thousands of data sources. Business users do not understand these complex data sources. IT struggles to understand the thousands of tables, millions of attributes and how the data all works together. Capsenta delivers a beautiful view of these myriad, complex relational data sources using the power of knowledge graphs. This beautiful data can then be used in machine learning applications, business intelligence tools and graph databases to answer important business questions.

“Our research started over a decade ago by asking a basic question—what does it mean to combine relational database and semantic web technology? The outcome was a series of theoretical and systems results which were productized in Capsenta. The solutions we ultimately arrived at, combined with our compliance experience with highly-regulated clients, is a really nice match for data.world and Capsenta customers,” said Dr. Sequeda. “We’re all excited to bring our technology to a whole new audience with a company that’s so dedicated to building truly data-driven cultures.”

“This is a huge win for Austin and for the University of Texas,” said Joshua Baer, founder of Capital Factory. “This is a homegrown success story that touches every part of the Austin startup ecosystem. Juan Sequeda has been a startup community leader for the past decade and his Semantic Web meetup was one of the first to meet regularly at Capital Factory. I’m proud to have been an investor in data.world since day one.”

“As an investor in both companies, we are delighted to see the technology platform developed by Capsenta help achieve data.world’s mission to create the most meaningful, collaborative, and abundant data resource in the world,” said Venu Shamapant, Founding Partner at LiveOak Venture Partners.

Founded in 2015 by Brett Hurt, Bryon Jacob, Jon Loyens, and Matt Laessig, data.world is the platform for modern data teamwork. Its Smart Data Catalog wakes up the hidden data workforce within every company, unifies silos, and creates data-driven cultures faster. The Austin-based startup serves the enterprise by speeding up data work and creating shared context to preserve and perpetuate essential project knowledge.