DataPad Unveils New Collaborative Data Discovery Tool

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- DataPad – the developer of next-generation agile data discovery for teams – came out of stealth today to announce its groundbreaking data visualization and collaboration tool.

Despite being relatively stealthy to date, DataPad has attracted thousands of interested users primarily via word of mouth from alpha testers. The company will unveil its technology at VentureBeat's DataBeat 2014 event in San Francisco May 20 as part of the Innovation Showdown.

DataPad was founded by Wes McKinney, creator of the open source Pandas data analytics library and best-selling author of Python for Data Analysis, and Chang She, system architect and core developer of Pandas. The company received $1.7 million seed funding from Accel Partners with participation from Google Ventures, a 16z Seed Fund, SV Angel, Ludlow Ventures, and angel investors including Jeff Hammerbacher, Tom Pinckney, and Waikit Lau.

"We've been building toward the vision of a fully-integrated, cloud-based data solution that gives non-technical people in any business, small or large, dramatically simplified access to data," said CEO Wes McKinney. "Others announce funding like it's news, we are announcing what we've done with our money. So starting at DataBeat, people who want to know what we're up to can join our expanded beta and see for themselves."

"We think DataPad solves a huge dilemma for small and medium companies who want to use data to drive growth," McKinney added. "Until now, they've either had to invent their own solutions or make enormous investments in high-end integrated toolsets or data consulting. DataPad democratizes their data through easy point-and-click integration with the most common data sources and speed-of-thought visual exploration and analytics."

DataPad also includes collaboration features that enable everyone on the team to easily engage with data through fast visual discovery, and share analytics seamlessly through the cloud. Says Jake Flomenberg of Accel Partners, "DataPad takes a holistic approach to BI that brings ingestion and collaboration into the analytics cycle. This enables users to spend time analyzing data, not shipping it around."

The unique DataPad client, with its intuitive visual interface, works across desktop and mobile touch-based devices.

Market research firm Pringle & Company has identified the move toward business-led analytic solutions like DataPad as a key driver of business intelligence market growth in the coming years. Such solutions combine rapid interrogation of organizational data with a lower price point and friendly interface for use by business users instead of data scientists or BI specialists.

"Enterprises of all sizes can benefit from flexible, investigative BI," said Curt Monash, President of Monash Research and editor of the DBMS2 blog. "Accessible business intelligence tools shouldn't be limited to old-fashioned charts and reports."

About Accel Partners

Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, New York City, London, and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel.

Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful technology companies, many of which have defined their categories. AdMob, AirWatch, Atlassian, Braintree, Brightcove, Cloudera, Dropbox, Facebook, Fusion-IO, Lookout, Macromedia, metroPCS, MoPub, Nimble Storage, Opower, OzForex, QlikTech, Real Networks, Riverbed, Spotify, SuperCell, SunRun and YapStone.

For more information, please visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel.

About DataPad

Based in San Francisco, CA, DataPad was founded with the goal of creating better data tools for professionals in small and medium businesses to collaborate around data, from anywhere and on any device. We provide easy to use data integration, data discovery, and reporting.

DataPad was founded in 2013 by Wes McKinney, author of Python for Data Analysis and creator of Pandas, and Chang She, core developer of Pandas and a former data science instructor at Columbia University.

To receive an invitation to the DataPad expanded beta, visit www.datapad.io

SOURCE Accel Partners