July 25, 2019 – Data privacy start-up Ethyca announced that it had just closed its latest funding round, raising $4.2m.

The New York-based company was set up by Irish engineer Cillian Kieran, who previously founded BrandCommerce and digital consultancy firm CKSK.

The funding round was led by IA Ventures and Founder Collective, with Table Management and Sinai Ventures also participating. Cheddar’s Jon Steinberg and Moat co-founder Jonah Goodhart also contributed to the fund.

Ethyca will use this round of funding to build out its team and product. Director of MIT’s Internet Policy Research Initiative, Daniel Weitzner, will also join the company as an adviser.

The data privacy start-up provides developers and product teams with infrastructure to ensure consumer privacy throughout applications and services design.

It claims to act as an alternative to the existing privacy solutions, which the start-up labels as “retroactive band-aids that do not solve the root problem”.

TechCrunch broke down exactly how Ethyca works: “[It] helps companies discover sensitive data, then provides a mechanism for customers to see, edit or delete their data from the system. Finally, the solution enables companies to define who can see particular types of data across the organisation to control access. All of these components are designed to help companies comply with GDPR regulations.”

Kieran told TechCrunch that users do not need to be concerned about a third party accessing this data, as Ethyca never actually sees the raw data. “We are a suite of tools that sits between business processes. We don’t capture raw data. We don’t see personal information,” he said.

May 19, 2020, New York – Ethyca, a New York-based startup, today announced the launch of self-service privacy products, a world first. Teams will be able to start complying with privacy laws in minutes.

Ethyca also announced that businesses can begin using its self-service product for free, enabling automated privacy compliance for a companies across a range of life cycle, from startup to enterprise. Ethyca will now allow businesses of all sizes to implement comprehensive privacy management within a few clicks and without a lengthy onboarding process. 

Ethyca can confirm that their premium product, Ethyca Pro+, is now being used by multiple major direct-to-consumer brands. Companies everywhere are under greater pressure to comply with new privacy regulations such as California’s CCPA, with its enforcement confirmed to begin in July, in spite of the Coronavirus-related challenges facing businesses today.

Cillian Kieran, CEO and co-founder of Ethyca, emphasized the pressing need for companies to get privacy right:

“Right now companies are concerned with applying a ‘band aid’ for the likes of GDPR and CCPA to avoid risk of fines, but are not thinking holistically about what our industry is facing. Not only is it necessary to comply with the increasingly complex web of privacy regulations globally, but it’s more and more important to consumers that the services they use respect and manage their data ethically. Companies must seize the chance to gain competitive advantage here and differentiate themselves – those who take a transparent and considerate approach towards user data will be rewarded when consumers vote with their feet.”