In 2014, Jason Frantz and Rob Woolen were co-founders Sigma calculations, a platform that overlays data stored in data platforms like Snowflake and Google BigQuery with a spreadsheet-like interface for data visualization and analysis. When creating Sigma, two former software engineers desired to tackle what they saw as the difficult data challenges that enormous corporations face: cumbersome tools and difficult-to-manage data stores.
In 2023 questionnaire At Oracle, most business leaders said they didn’t imagine their employers’ current approach to data and analytics met their needs. 77% said the dashboards and charts they receive are unrelated to the decisions they make, and 72% admit that the sheer volume of data – and lack of trust in it – sometimes stops them from making decisions altogether.
“After seeing tremendous progress in cloud data infrastructure over the last decade, Jason and Rob identified a gap in the market,” Sigma Computing CEO Mike Palmer told TechCrunch. “Sigma creates a data workspace for everyone – where teams can analyze data in spreadsheets, build business intelligence in the form of dashboards and reports, and create data workflows and applications where data never leaves the company’s data warehouse.”
Initially (in 2014), Sigma only offered a set of basic business intelligence and analytical tools enabling connection to the client’s external databases. But the company — which Frantz and Woolen founded when they were entrepreneurs-in-residence at Sutter Hill Ventures, with Woolen coming from Salesforce’s Work.com organization — grew quickly.
Currently, Sigma’s product suite consists of tools that allow users to investigate data “in situ” in databases containing as much as billions of records. Customers can use the platform to create dashboards, reports, workflows and applications without leaving the data source.
“We champion what we call ‘mass multiplayer BI,’ a dynamic environment where professionals, regardless of their technical expertise, come together to leverage their distinct skills, all in real time and on the same platform ”said Palmer.
The market entry strategy proved successful.
According to Palmer, Sigma’s revenue has increased 100% year-over-year for 4 years in a row due to a customer base of roughly 1,000 firms. These numbers make investors blissful. On Thursday, Sigma closed a $200 million Series D financing round led by Avenir Growth Capital and Spark Capital that values the company at $1.5 billion, a 60% increase from its 2021 valuation (when it raised $300 million dollars).
Palmer believes the key to Sigma’s success in the face of fierce competition from the likes of Tableau and Microsoft’s Power BI is its continued focus on creating data analytics tools with a low barrier to entry.
“Existing business intelligence platforms were designed primarily for ‘super analysts’ — people who work in industries and understand the intricacies of data manipulation at an enterprise scale,” Palmer said. “For most people, business analytics was – and remains – a significant obstacle. “Jason and Rob believed that there was a gigantic market of intelligent people who had either been ignored by more technical tools or had been given simple tools that only allowed them to ask simple questions.”
It probably doesn’t hurt that the market for business intelligence and analytics tools is huge – and growing at a very healthy rate. According to According to Precedence Research, a market research firm, the business intelligence sector alone will grow from $27.24 billion in 2022 to $54.9 billion in 2023.
With Sigma’s massive war chest – $581 million in enterprise capital – and roughly 450 employees, the company plans to grow its business in the U.S. and internationally and invest in artificial intelligence, particularly integration with generative artificial intelligence platforms akin to OpenAI, to permit users to ask questions about their company details.
“We believe that due to the volume of data, the speed of change and management, as well as security requirements, data will become increasingly centralized in systems such as Databricks and Snowflake,” Palmer said. “For competitive enterprises to work synchronously and at high speed, you must provide your employees with raw, up-to-date data and the tools to create and communicate collaboratively. They need a platform that allows them to access this data regardless of their skills.”
Snowflake Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, D1 Ventures, Xn Ventures and Altimeter Capital also participated in Sigma’s Series D round.