News
GDPR: Dastra raises 1 million euros
June 2022 by Marc Jacob
Dastra, a SaaS-based GDPR software editor, announced that it has raised €1 million from a network of business angels, including Seed4Soft, a club of software experts who invest together in promising young B2B start-ups.
In a market with an estimated annual growth rate of 46%, this operation will allow Dastra to continue developing its technology to facilitate the daily life of data protection officers (DPO). The funds raised will also enable Dastra to accelerate its development in France and Europe, where the start-up already has customers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
Four years after the implementation of the GDPR, it is clear that cases of non-compliance with the GDPR continue to multiply. 1.6 billion in fines have been issued since the GDPR came into force and the CNIL, in its report published on May 11, 2022, reports a very sharp increase in the number of violations reported last year.
These breaches are not due to an unwillingness on the part of companies and communities, but to an inadequate approach and tools. Faced with an exponential amount of personal data spread across all systems and while new laws are regularly enacted, the management and monitoring of personal data are often carried out in silos, in an artisanal way, through manual practices and the use of software not designed for this purpose or not connected to each other. These methods are costly, time-consuming and prevent the various stakeholders from cooperating, resulting in a high level of wastage.
It is to address this issue that Paul-Emmanuel Bidault, Antoine Bidault, Jérôme de Mercey and Romain Bidault created Dastra in 2020. Their objective: to enable organizations to meet all the obligations of the GDPR, while improving the productivity of DPOs.
Transform the DPO into a "Privacy Hero"!
More than a simple response to a legal constraint, Dastra’s SaaS web solution helps DPOs map and automate all technical and organizational processes related to personal data.
In a competitive market, Dastra differentiates itself by placing collaboration at the heart of the GDPR approach in order to allow DPOs to interact simply with all operational teams and in all processes involving personal data processing. The solution is also developed in open architecture to be associated with all the systems and processes of the organizations.
Ultimately, rather than simply being an internal regulator, Dastra enables DPOs to position themselves as true "Privacy Heroes"! Leaders who are able to bring on board everyone who handles personal data to improve their organization’s ability to quickly comply with privacy regulations.
More than 1200 entities two years after its creation
Dastra’s intuitive and comprehensive plug&play solution has been a huge success since its launch. Less than 2 years after its creation, the start-up expects to reach a turnover of one million euros by the end of 2022. Its customers include some of the best small and medium-sized companies, such as Alan, Saur, Allociné, Albin Michel and Clermont Foot, as well as public institutions (Marseille Hospitals) and local authorities (City of La Rochelle and Charente-Maritime Department). In total, more than 1,200 entities rely on Dastra to manage their GDPR compliance.
Establishing itself among the European leaders in personal data protection
In order to pursue its development, Dastra has raised 1 million euros from a network of business angels including Seed4Soft, a club of software experts investing together in promising young B2B start-ups.
Thanks to this operation, the start-up has the necessary means to continue the technical developments of its platform. It plans to recruit 20 people and double the size of its team by 2022.
The funds raised will also enable Dastra to accelerate its international deployment, even though it already supports customers in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. Its objective is to quickly become one of the European leaders in GDPR compliance and personal data protection management solutions.
