Imanis Data Inc., a startup that uses machine learning to help companies protect their business information, today announced that it has landed a $13.5 million funding round backed by big names such as Intel Capital and Canaan Partners.

The startup announced its new funding today in conjunction with the appointment of former Adobe Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. executive John Mracek as chief executive officer. He’s taking over the reins from founder Nitin Donde, who will assume the role of chief operating officer.

The investment brings the startup’s total raised to nearly $30 million. Imanis will use the new funds to widen the adoption of its namesake software platform, which provides tools for backing up information kept in NoSQL databases such as MongoDB and Couchbase. The system also works with the Hadoop big-data analytics framework.

These platforms were also a core focus for Datos IO Inc., another backup startup that was bought by data protection unicorn Rubrik Inc. in early February. The underlying motivation behind the acquisition is likely the same one that drove Imanis’ investors to back the new round. Companies are adopting NoSQL stores and other modern data platforms en masse to improve the management of their unstructured records, which is creating new demand for backup tools that support them.

Imanis sets itself apart from the pack with a set of administrative features aimed at streamlining day-to-day operations. The most notable of the bunch is ThreatSense, a tool that uses machine learning to understand how the information in a given system is typically used and detect potential anomalies. According to Imanis, the technology enables companies to pick up on security breaches faster.

When data is corrupted, administrators can pull up an unaffected earlier version through the startup’s management console. A Google-like search interface lets them retrieve specific items instead of having to restore an entire database worth of information.

The startup claimed its platform has been adopted by multiple unnamed Fortune 500 companies in the retail, financial services and travel industries. Besides backup, Imanis said, enterprises can also use its software’s data management capabilities to move records from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud when they’re migrating an application.

Image: Pixabay