WireWheel.io Secures $3.1 Million in Seed Round Led By PSP Growth and NEA

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- WireWheel.io, the developer of an innovative cloud-based data privacy and protection platform, announced today it has completed a $3.1 million seed round of financing.  PSP Growth, the venture and growth equity arm of PSP Capital, a private investment firm founded by entrepreneur and former US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the investment round with participation from Steve Case, Sean Glass and others.  The company plans to use the investment to hire technical talent, build out its product and test with early adopters.

WireWheel.io was founded in 2016 by Justin Antonipillai, former Acting Undersecretary of Economic Affairs at the US Department of Commerce in the Obama administration and lead US Negotiator of the EU-US Privacy Shield, along with database and machine-learning experts Amol Deshpande and Chris Getner. WireWheel aims to modernize and simplify how global enterprises protect and manage the privacy of personal data.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), one of the biggest changes to data privacy and data protection regulation in 20 years, takes effect May 25, 2018, and imposes significant privacy requirements on companies on both sides of the Atlantic. WireWheel.io's Data Privacy and Protection platform uniquely addresses requirements around the mapping of personal data, preparation of data protection impact assessments, affording customer transparency, and fulfilling data subject access requests.

"Today, enterprises lack an automated, scalable solution to help them find, classify and better use the data they have collected from their customers. By leveraging innovations in machine learning, data science, user experience and the cloud, WireWheel.io gives privacy professionals the tools to safeguard and steward the most important asset organizations manage: their customer data," said Justin Antonipillai, founder and CEO of WireWheel.io. "Without tools like WireWheel's platform, businesses risk harm to their brand as well as significant fines for non-compliance, especially under the GDPR.  Our core product is designed to empower privacy professionals to quickly find and inventory data and visually map out business processes, including with third-party vendors, using a really intuitive interface."

WireWheel.io's successful seed round financing demonstrates strong support for a new generation of tools to address the mandates around data privacy.

"In both the public and private sectors, I have seen the power that data brings to solving today's challenges. In fact, data privacy and data protection were some of the most significant issues we handled on the international stage during my tenure in government service," said Penny Pritzker, founder and Chairman of PSP Capital. "Now, more than ever, it is imperative that companies and governments build trust and show that they are taking care of their customer's personal data. The WireWheel team brings tremendous expertise in understanding the regulatory maze, advanced technologies and business needs surrounding data privacy. WireWheel.io's Data Privacy and Protection platform is well-positioned to be an industry game changer and reshape how companies protect their customer's data."

"Wirewheel's Data Privacy and Protection platform is an innovative and well-timed solution for global enterprises that enables companies to more easily comply with the complex set of privacy and data protection regulations around the globe," said Dayna Grayson, Partner at NEA.  "By also enabling collaborative compliance between customers and their vendors, the WireWheel platform aims to be the hub for continuous management of data.  We are excited to collaborate with the WireWheel team and support them as they work to build a great company in an exciting category."

About WireWheel.io
WireWheel.io aims to modernize and simplify how enterprises protect and manage the privacy of personal data. We equip privacy professionals with the tools to help them understand what data they hold, its activity across the entire data lifecycle and in turn, enable them to meet GDPR's stringent compliance requirements. WireWheel.io's Data Privacy and Protection platform is built on a modern microservices architecture that can be easily deployed from the public cloud or inside an organization's data center.  For more information visit, www.wirewheel.io

About PSP Growth and PSP Capital
PSP Capital is a Chicago-based global private investment firm founded by its Chairman, Penny Pritzker, an entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist, and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce.  PSP Growth is the venture and growth equity arm of PSP Capital, whose mission is to support entrepreneurs and build market-leading businesses, with a primary emphasis on disruptive technologies, tech-enabled services and privacy/cyber-security.  With a patient and significant capital base (investing from the balance sheet, not a fund), long history of building businesses and global network of deep relationships, PSP Growth is uniquely positioned to support the strategic growth objectives of its businesses and entrepreneur partners.  For more information on PSP Growth, visit www.pspcapital.com/pspgrowth.

About New Enterprise Associates
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With nearly $17 billion in cumulative committed capital since inception, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 200 portfolio company IPOs and more than 320 acquisitions. Learn more at www.nea.com.

SOURCE WireWheel.io