A Netherlands-based start-up tech company, Datasnipper, is an intelligence platform that regulates the entire data compliance process, accelerates audit reports within Microsoft Excel, helps reduce complications related to financial data, and promotes financial productivity among team members. It was founded in 2017 by three people, namely Maarten Alblas, Jonas Ruyter, and Kai Bakker. Their main objective is to simplify the working patterns of auditors and provide them with worldwide recognition in the field of audit.
The old form of auditing was manual and time-consuming due to its repetitive nature, prompting auditors to utilise new innovative and smart technologies that help them work effectively and efficiently. Datasnipper is an intelligent platform that deals with the progression of the audit process and also helps to improve the competence and quality of a standard audit process. The entire software is completely based within the Microsoft Excel mechanism; it is because Excel is widely used as data storage or management software by auditors, so by enhancing the Excel mechanism, auditors can easily do their job more smoothly and precisely. Datasnipper is now gaining acceptance worldwide due to the growing demand for this audit software among internal auditors, financial controllers, accountants, and tax consultancies.
Backstory of Datasnipper:
The story of DataSnipper began with the simple recognition that auditors were overwhelmed by repetitious manual chores. The founders identified this issue during discussions with auditors, who voiced their frustration with the time-consuming aspects of their job. Motivated by this feedback, Jonas Ruyter, Maarten Alblas, and Kai Bakker decided to create a tool that would automate these tiresome tasks, thereby boosting efficiency for audit and finance professionals.
They acknowledged the prospect of their tool after receiving positive feedback from potential customers, and by early 2022, the company’s annual recurring revenues rose from $1 million to $10 million.
The company bootstrapped for the first four years, and during COVID, they started doing demos through video calls. This simple strategy helped them expand globally, and they closed their first funding round with Insight Partners in September 2022, enabling them to establish a presence in the U.S. and open a New York office.
Crucial facts:
The Amsterdam-based company Datasnipper, during its round B series of funding, raised around 100 million U.S. dollars (approximately €92.53 million) and got the precious tagline of a unicorn-level company. The investment process of valuing a company at 1 billion U.S. dollars is covered by Index Venture, which is a London-based venture capital firm. As per PitchBook’s unicorn companies tracker, after round B, the Amsterdam-based company became Europe’s first unicorn.
Companies like Deloitte, KPMG, RSM, BDO, and over 3 lakh auditors across more than 85 countries play a vital role in advancing the company’s revenue growth within a span of one year. It was founded six years ago and now focuses on increasing its revenue within the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions by investing and developing other financial fields like internal auditing, tax advisory, and other sectors with the help of its current funding. Miss. Vidya Peter, CEO of Datasnipper, states that their company is now focused on changing the entire old system of auditing by advancing the process, and she also says that their primary aim is the optimum utilisation of skills rather than going through the manual filling. Vidya says that they have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from their customers for making their work more systematic and fun and providing the audit data more effectively and efficiently. Even the firms can solve complex and technical data more systematically in comparison to the previous manual process.
New additions:
DataSnipper’s Advanced Extraction Suite improves productivity by enabling large-scale data extraction from unformed documents. This suite allows audit and finance professionals to automatically detect, extract, and cross-reference data from documents of any format by using AI technology as its base. This helps to simplify their workflow and lets them save time and focus on identifying distinctions. The suite contains three fundamental features:
1. Invoice extraction: Automates bulk extraction of invoice data, including invoice ID and total amount.
2. Receipt extraction: Captures essential details from receipts, such as merchant name and transaction date.
3. Contract extraction: Instantly retrieves crucial data from contracts, including the effective date, execution date, parties involved, and jurisdiction.
Customers have reported up to a 70% increase in efficiency while using the Advanced Extraction Suite. Alan Langelli, Partner of Assurance Services at Aprio, noted that Aprio’s security practice has begun using DataSnipper’s Advanced Extraction Suite to simplify the detailed process. The suite allows them to extract numerous data fields from invoices and cash confirmations in bulk, with both high accuracy and efficiency.
Audit and finance professionals are using DataSnipper’s AI capabilities to automate repetitive tasks on a large scale. 74% of DataSnipper’s customers trust AI to enhance the quality of their work, and 83% are more likely to stay at their firm if they utilize AI tools to improve efficiency.
The Cloud Collaboration Suite revolutionizes document collaboration by providing real-time, online access to work papers. It has DataSnipper for Excel Online, allowing seamless team collaboration through any web browser, including devices. Work papers and cross-referenced documents are instantly saved to SharePoint, enhancing team efficiency with credible data capture. The WebSnip Extension feature enables users to extract data directly from web pages into Excel, providing enhanced credibility to evidence with captured URLs and timestamps.
The new Add-on module leverages DataSnipper’s robust platform functionalities, including automatic document cross-referencing, to create clear documentation trails for easy review and verification, thereby boosting consistency, accuracy, and trust.
Accomplishments and Future Prospects of the Company:
Bootstrapping Success: DataSnipper started as a bootstrapped startup, letting the founders possess control over their vision and product development. Their dedication and hard work paid off, and DataSnipper quickly gained traction in the market.
Global Expansion: Today, DataSnipper helps hundreds of thousands of audit and finance professionals in 125 countries, including Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, and Ernst & Young.
Continued Innovation: The founders are focused on continuously improving the platform, hiring the best engineering talent, and expanding their market presence.
Links:
2.https://www.datasnipper.com/about-us
4.https://siliconcanals.com/datasnipper-raises-100m/
7.From bootstrapping to global leadership: How DataSnipper is transforming audit | Insight Partners
8.DataSnipper Launches Two New Suites – Transforming Audit and Finance with AI (prnewswire.com)
9.DataSnipper, which makes AI audit software, valued at $1 billion in new funding round | Fortune
10.Datasnipper co-founders explain how they built auditor’s personal tool (siliconcanals.com)
