UPDATED 16:46 EDT / NOVEMBER 25 2014

Host Analytics bags $25 million to bring Big Data to financial pros

spreadsheetHost Analytics Inc. became the latest niche analytics provider to surface on the venture capital radar this week after netting $25 million from a group of prominent investors to accelerate the adoption of its cloud-based enterprise performance management (EPM) suite. The funding provides a needed boost in a crowded market.

Led by database industry veteran Dave Kellogg, Host Analytics is among the oldest in a crop of new-generation vendors that hit the scene with the goal of automating processes financial departments have traditionally relied upon spreadsheets software to perform. But Excel is the least of the company’s worries. Besides traditional corporate mindsets, it’s also going up against well-established on-premise vendors such as Oracle Corp. and SAP SE that are moving more and more of their software to the cloud as well as fellow newcomers closing in on the same opportunity.

Despite the intense competition, Host Analytics managed to achieve impressive growth last quarter, landing nearly 200 new deals in what it describes as another period of record demand for its platform. The service has attracted a combination of big-name accounts and startups that is fairly unique it the space thanks to a one-stop-shop value proposition that promises to take the management burden off off IT departments.

Host Analytics bundles its capabilities into an integrated suite that it says provides an environment for financial and accounting professional to consolidate the various aspects of managing an organization’s bottom line. It comes with connectors that take the hassle out of importing data from existing back-end systems and packs a library of more than 6,000 metrics that users can leverage to put together custom visualizations of that information.

The platform provides the standard planning and reporting functionality that its core audience requires in addition to features aimed at allowing other departments to harness financial data for their own purposes. The functionality includes integration between sales and budget models that Host Analytics says eliminates inconsistencies and makes it possible to anticipate changes in one area that might affect the other.

Host Analytics will use the new funding to add more features with an emphasis on “new product initiatives in operational planning,” carefully obscure wording that suggests it’s looking to expand further beyond the financial department into more parts of the business. The company also intends also invest a part of the capital, which brings its total raised to $77 million, in international expansion.

The investment was led by Centerview Capital Technology with participation from existing investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Next World Capital, StarVest Partners and Trident Capital. Ned Hooper of Centerview is joining the Host Analytics board.


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