Transcend Bags $40M in Series B Funding from StepStone Group

Transcend, a next-generation data privacy platform, has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by StepStone Group. HighlandX, Accel, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors (01A), Script Capital, and South Park Commons participated. This funding brings Transcend’s total raised to nearly $90 million.

Founded in 2017 by Ben Brooks and Mike Farrell, Transcend is headquartered in California’s Bay Area. The company helps significant enterprises improve data governance, reduce risk, enhance operational efficiencies, and build trust.

Transcend has expanded its offerings beyond its initial virtual kill switch for consumers. It now provides a comprehensive suite of 12 Privacy and AI Governance products. These tools help enterprises manage personal data, automate privacy tasks, assess risks, and oversee AI systems.

“Trying to solve today’s privacy challenges with legacy platforms is like throwing a glass of water at a house fire—it’s hopeless,” said Transcend CEO Ben Brook.

“This month marks the sixth anniversary of GDPR, and we’re in the middle of another wave of comprehensive legislation with the EU AI Act and a draft US federal privacy law. Yet privacy remains a fundamentally unsolved problem inside companies. Most have neither a clear view of their data nor effective privacy controls installed directly into their systems. And now, new AI use cases are kicking this problem right up to the boardroom door,” added Brook.

Unique Approach to Privacy Controls

Transcend’s approach focuses on integrating privacy controls directly into business systems. The platform handles the entire privacy lifecycle of personal data, including data discovery and classification, consent management, and automating workflows for data deletion and access requests. This method contrasts with legacy platforms that rely on manual workflows, making Transcend’s solution more efficient and secure.

“Legacy solutions that rely on heavily operational processes cannot meet this moment. Privacy problems must be solved at the data system level, with infrastructure that directly orchestrates personal data across all business systems. That’s how we’ve built the Transcend platform since day one, and this latest fundraiser will help us meet the demand for a transition to modern privacy technology,” said Brook.

Transcend’s technical platform outperforms legacy solutions, winning nearly 9 out of 10 competitive scenarios. Its customers include LG Electronics, Plaid, Brex, Hims & Hers, and confidential Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies. Transcend has provided actionable data rights to over 1.2 billion people globally, showcasing its impact on the data privacy landscape.

“Transcend takes a radically different approach to solving modern data privacy problems by tackling it at the code level, which is one of the many reasons we’ve invested in the company,” said John Avirett, Partner at StepStone Group.

“What’s also remarkable is how often they’re moving companies with complex data requirements off inefficient legacy platforms and point solutions and onto their next-generation platform—what an incredible signal of future success,” added John Avirett.

Growing Demand for Data Privacy Solutions

The global data privacy software market is growing at a 40 percent CAGR, projected to reach $30 billion by 2030. Increased public interest in data privacy and the widespread adoption of AI have added complexity to data protection efforts.

Transcend’s platform supports AI adoption within enterprises, ensuring responsible data governance. The platform automates compliance with regulations like the EU AI Act, which mandates strict data governance practices and transparency.

With its latest funding, Transcend plans to expand its customer base and enhance product development. As privacy regulations evolve, Transcend remains committed to providing cutting-edge solutions that help companies navigate the complexities of data privacy and AI governance.

“Our Transcend implementation has resulted in significantly greater compliance. Privacy requests have increased substantially, and response time has decreased by 75 percent. Transcend’s Premier support offering is of spectacular value, and the individuals I have worked with are highly knowledgeable. ‘Transcend’ has become part of the language of the enterprise,” said Chad Rosenthal, AGC, Privacy & Digital Platforms at LG Electronics.

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