Dataloop automates data management and annotation to accelerate AI projects and raises $33M

In the wake of the pandemic, digitalization has accelerated and businesses have started to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to improve their business processes and gain efficiencies. However, when it comes to building an AI project, a company must have plenty of well-annotated data to work with. This tagged information is what the system uses to learn, identify patterns, and eventually make predictions needed by the end user.

Now the thing is that the data is barely annotated by default. It needs to be labeled, which can take a lot of time and resources. In fact, organizations that rely on manual data labeling companies can end up spending hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars every month just to get their data ready for an AI/ML project ( machine learning).

Enter the data loop

To address this challenge, Israeli startup Dataloop provides enterprises with an end-to-end platform that spans the entire lifecycle of unstructured data management for AI projects, starting with labeling data. data, automating data operations, and deploying production pipelines to weave the human into the -loop. The company announced today that it has raised $33 million in a Series B funding round, led by NGP Capital and Alpha Wave Ventures.

“The Dataloop platform helps companies of all sizes bring their AI project to production, from start to finish. We strive to break the boundaries of AI development and create efficient workflows, easy-to-use management systems, and accurate annotation tools, so teams across all industries can use them,” said Eran Shlomo, CEO of Dataloop.

The company, founded in 2017, first launched annotation capabilities and then expanded into other aspects of data management and preparation, enabling companies to close their data loops faster and shorten the time-to-market of a high-quality AI application.

“Dataloop has identified a major obstacle in a large and rapidly growing market. Most companies these days have a dedicated team working on data management and AI integrations, and they all face the same challenges,” said Christian Noske, Partner at NGP Capital. “Dataloop has built an excellent platform that will have a significant impact on the AI ​​production industry as a whole. We look forward to working with the Dataloop team to continue our global expansion.

Since launch, the company has raised a total of $50 million (including this round) and signed on clients including Intel, Toyota, LinkedIn, and Vimeo. It claims to have been adopted in sectors such as retail, agriculture, robotics, autonomous vehicles and construction.

Growing competition in data management and preparation

As data preparation has become a major component of AI development, several platforms and tools have been created to address the challenges organizations face when labeling their datasets. The biggest names in the category are Scale AI and Labelbox, but smaller players like Tasq.ai, SuperAnnotate and Datasaur are also looking to accelerate their role in the market.

With this round of funding, Dataloop also plans to strengthen its footprint. The company said it will expand the Dataloop platform globally and build teams in the US, Europe and India.

According to Research and Markets, the global data annotation market is expected to grow from $695.5 million in 2019 to $6.45 billion by 2027.