Kloud.io

Kloud.io, founded in 2016 by Krishna Bhat and Sathish Raju, operates as a no-code data analytics platform designed to streamline data access for business users. The founders, who met as data engineers and solution architects at Oracle Corporation, experienced firsthand the reliance of business and finance departments on engineers for data access. This experience fueled their passion to create a solution that empowers non-technical users to work with data independently.

The company's core offering is a self-service analytics platform that enables users to access, explore, and update data from various sources directly within spreadsheet interfaces like Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. It connects to a wide array of databases, data warehouses, and SaaS applications such as Salesforce, Oracle, and Netsuite. This eliminates the need for users to navigate between different applications or rely on IT and data engineering teams for data extraction and report generation. The platform's features include a drag-and-drop report builder for users without SQL knowledge and a SQL editor for more technical users. It also allows for automated data refreshes on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly schedule, ensuring that the data in spreadsheets is always up-to-date.

Kloud.io's business model targets enterprises, particularly finance departments, aiming to automate repetitive data-related tasks. By providing a direct line to data within familiar spreadsheet environments, the company helps organizations increase analyst productivity and free up engineering resources. For instance, one client, a major video streaming service, estimated saving 10,000 engineering hours annually by using the platform. In January 2020, Kloud.io secured $4 million in a seed funding round led by Unusual Ventures, with participation from Jason Calacanis and Firebolt Ventures, to expand its engineering, sales, and marketing teams. Subsequently, in March 2022, Alation, an enterprise data intelligence solutions provider, acquired Kloud.io to integrate its technology into their platform, leading to the creation of Alation Connected Sheets. As part of the acquisition, both founders, Krishna Bhat and Sathish Raju, joined Alation.

Keywords: data analytics, no-code platform, spreadsheet integration, data automation, self-service BI, financial analysis tools, data extraction, report automation, Google Sheets data connector, Excel data integration, Oracle data access, Salesforce data reporting, data workflow automation, data preparation, embedded analytics, acquired by Alation, Krishna Bhat, Sathish Raju, data access for finance, automated reporting