It’s not easy for organizations to become data-driven, despite the aspirations many have to get there. Even orgs with data analytics teams often struggle to make effective use of their data. According to a recent Gartner survey, fewer than half of data and analytics leaders say their teams are effective in providing value to their organizations.
German computer scientist Michael Berthold became aware of the issue while a professor at University of Konstanz, where he consulted with a number of businesses trying to adopt data analytics practices. These businesses frequently expressed a desire for a platform that could help process and analyze their data, Berthold told TechCrunch — and so he and several colleagues set out to build one.
“The initial goal was to create a modular, highly scalable and open data processing platform that allowed for the easy integration of different data loading, processing, transformation, analysis and visual exploration modules, without focus on any particular application area,” Berthold said. “The software was designed to be professional-grade and also serve as an integration platform for various other data analysis projects.”
The resulting open source platform, called KNIME, eventually morphed into a VC-backed startup of the same name, and the aforementioned colleagues (Bernd Wiswedel and Thomas Gabriel) joined Berthold on the founding team.
Today, KNIME has 400 customers paying for the fully managed version of its platform, including Audi, AMD, Lilly, Novartis, Bayer, Sanofi, Genentech, the FDA, P&G and Mercedes-Benz. Annual recurring revenue has been increasing 30-40% per year since KNIME’s founding in 2008, according to Berthold, and now sits at about €30 million ($~32.35 million).
KNIME’s software is built on visual, no-code workflows designed to integrate with an org’s systems of record. Users can tap KNIME to build pipelines to transform data, turn data into reports and visualizations, or compare one set of data to another, regardless of where the data resides.
Through KNIME’s business hub, companies can run automate, and deploy data workflows with optional governance and security capabilities on top. The hub is also where they can build internal libraries of workflows so that teams can share and edit workflows as needed, or install workflows created by the wider KNIME community.
KNIME charges a pretty penny for its services — annual licenses start at $39,900 for the business hub. But customers seem willing to pay for them, which has gotten investors’ attention.
This week, KNIME announced that Invus invested $30 million in its business to bring KNIME’s total raised to $50 million. The proceeds will be put toward product development, expanding KNIME’s team from 250 people today to 275 by the end of the year, and customer acquisition efforts across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Berthold said.
Asked how KNIME plans to remain competitive against data analytics rivals like Dataiku, Alteryx, IBM and SAS, Berthold pointed to capabilities like KNIME’s recently launched AI assistant, which helps users get started or add advanced functionality to existing data projects. KNIME also plans to grow its portfolio of software-as-a-service offerings, Berthold said, targeting small- and medium-sized businesses with pay-as-you-go tiers.
“KNIME was close to profitability in 2024, but with the added investment, we’ve chosen to invest more and grow in the coming years,” Berthold said. “We’ve seen a slowdown in tech, mostly resulting in longer sales cycles and more difficult negotiations. In some cases, budgets were put on hold, but the open source analytics platform adoption has continued, positioning KNIME well for the future.”
