Back when Ravi Grover and his colleagues at Data Tech Fund were getting off the ground a few years ago, not everyone was excited about their focus on data.
“Some of the feedback we got was that it sounded too boring,” Grover said.
But with the recent rush of generative AI and other AI-related technologies, the conversation around data — and the importance of good data to fuel AI apps and services — has changed.
“Now the struggle is the opposite,” said Grover. “How do we set ourselves apart from all the other funds?”
Data Tech Fund, which launched in 2021, is headquartered in Seattle but its four general partners are based across the world. They are all former Facebook engineering leaders who worked at the social media giant more than a decade ago.
- Grover, based in Seattle, was one of the first employees to work out of Facebook’s offices in Seattle. He later did engineering stints with Seattle startups including Elevator, Poppy, TraceMe, and Mason, and has backed Seattle companies as an angel investor.
- Siva Kolappa was head of data engineering at Facebook, where he worked from 2008 to 2014. He previously was a data warehouse manager at Netflix from 2002 to 2007.
- Andreas Quandt was a product analytics manager at Facebook and later joined Edmodo, where he was vice president of product.
- Stephan Goupille was a growth analytics manager at Facebook and also worked at Uber, Handshake, and Thumbtack.
The firm raised $10 million for its first fund and has invested in more than 25 companies. The firm’s investors include leaders at Facebook parent Meta; Apple; Dropbox; Asana; and DocSend.
It focuses on backing companies across various industries that leverage proprietary data and AI.
“We’re looking at whether data has a significant impact on the company, and where we think we may be able to add value,” Grover said.
Being inside of Facebook as it grew exponentially provided the firm’s partners with valuable insights, particularly around “growth data,” Grover said.
“We advise on the underlying data, and also the user growth piece,” he said.
Grover said the firm sees AI as another tool in the broader field of data analytics and data science.
“We’re really focused on real value being created,” he said.
Data Tech Fund hasn’t backed any Seattle-based startups but Grover said he hopes that changes.
“I love the Seattle ecosystem. It’s a good home base,” he said. “But we’re investing everywhere.”
