M12, the strategic investment vehicle for computer software firm Microsoft, led a $16m series B round for US-based data science software developer Pachyderm on Wednesday.
The round was backed by accelerator operator Y Combinator, venture capital firms Benchmark and Decibel Ventures, and undisclosed others. Nagraj Kashyap, head of M12, has joined the company’s board of directors in conjunction with the round.
Pachyderm has built a software platform that enables machine learning product developers to track, annotate and store data as it is prepared to be inputted into their algorithms. It will put the funding into recruitment as it looks to expand its Pachyderm Hub product.
Benchmark led the company’s $10m series A round in November 2018, investing alongside Y Combinator, Ace & Company, Blumberg Capital, Data Collective (DCVC), Foundation Capital, Susa Ventures and Tuesday Capital.
All the series A investors bar Benchmark and Y Combinator had previously contributed to Pachyderm’s $2m seed round in 2015 together with Caffeinated Capital, Soma Capital and assorted angel investors.