Synthetic data might not grab headlines like ChatGPT or self-driving cars, but it’s helping to solve one of enterprise AI’s biggest headaches: access to quality data. Rockfish Data, a San Francisco Bay-area startup using generative AI to create synthetic data for operational workflows, just raised $4 million in seed funding. The round was led by Emergent Ventures with participation from North Texas’ Dallas Venture Capital, as well as Foster Ventures, TEN13, NewBuild Venture Capital, and others.
Founded by Dr. Muckai Girish, Dr. Vyas Sekar, Dr. Giulia Fanti and Mr. Nathan Haugo, Rockfish Data says it’s “revolutionizing” how enterprises and public sector organizations overcome data silos that are s”everely limiting the efficacy of AI/ML and analytics workflows.” The seed funding—which brings the startup’s total amount raised to nearly $6 million—positions Rockfish to scale its technology and break down data silos that have hampered AI training and development in operations.
Rockfish Data has worked with “several enterprises” and public sector agencies including the U.S. Army and the Department of Homeland Security, the startup said.
‘A lot of enterprise use cases’
Dallas VC Managing Partner Dayakar Puskoor says Rockfish is developing “a groundbreaking platform for generating synthetic data.”
“We see a lot of enterprise use cases for Rockfish and, accordingly, we look forward to leveraging [Dallas VC’s DVC Advantage program] to bring Rockfish to DFW and enterprise technology across the U.S.” Puskoor added.
Through its DVC Advantage program, Dallas VC provides tailored support in product strategy, executive mentorship, and business development, with an aim to empower early-stage companies “to achieve remarkable growth and navigate the challenges of the entrepreneurial journey,” the firm says.
Addressing a ‘critical need’ for synthetic data
Ravish Ailinani, investment partner at Dallas VC, said Rockfish Data’s innovation “addresses a critical need in the way enterprises train, build, deploy, and utilize AI.”
“As the limitations of real-world data become more pronounced, synthetic data will become increasingly vital in training AI models,” he added. “It allows enterprises to develop safe, secure, and responsible AI while protecting their customer, employee, and partner data.”
Overcoming a ‘massive gap’ in operational data
“We’re on a mission to make it easy for enterprises to overcome data silos as they build AI and ML workflows at scale,” Rockfish Data Co-Founder and CEO Muckai Girish said in a statement. “We’ve redefined how synthetic data can be generated for operational workflows using generative AI. This funding round will allow us to continue our product innovation and invest in more go-to-market initiatives that accelerate adoption.”
According to Rockfish, product owners are increasingly facing data silos across entire product lifecycles—”everything from showing product demos for potential customers, cross-company or cross-border data sharing, and generating diverse training and test data.”
Synthetic data via generative AI holds the key to address this massive gap in operational data, the startup says. Based on foundational innovation and research at Carnegie Mellon University, the Rockfish Data platform is “the industry’s first outcome-centric synthetic data generation platform” that helps companies unlock the true value of their data and drive these workflows, according to the startup.
Generating synethetic data via ‘deep generative algorithms’
“Synthetic data is poised to play a crucial role in ensuring AI models’ robustness and scalability as they transform a range of industries and applications,” Anupam Rastogi, managing partner at Emergent Ventures and incoming board member at Rockfish, said in a statement. “Rockfish Data’s approach to generating synthetic data using state-of-the-art deep generative algorithms addresses a critical need in enterprise data operations. We’re excited to partner with Rockfish as they enter this new phase of growth.”
Priya Ramachandran, managing general partner at Foster Ventures, called Rockfish Data Rockfish Data “a company that we have believed in since its inception. We’re impressed with the progress the company has made and are excited to be a part of its continued success.”
Jibin Zhan, co-founder and VP of engineering at Conviva, added in a statement that Rockfish “brings much-needed genAI-based synthetic data generation to the Conviva platform for generating structure preserving session and event datasets. We’re impressed by Rockfish’s ability to create privacy-preserved and high-fidelity synthetic data using state-of-the-art genAI capabilities for a plethora of use cases, including product demos, AI training, and test data generation.”
According to Dallas Venture Capital’s website, the North Texas firm has deployed $83 million in cumulative capital. Its 26 active investments represent a portfolio enterprise value estimated at $4 billion.
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