Introducing InCountry: Because Your Data Shouldn’t Have a Passport

In recent years, GDPR has become a household acronym and major global data privacy mishaps have increased in frequency and magnitude. Both consumers and governments worry that the companies we entrusted with our data are unable to secure it within its intended borders, but until now, there’s been no recourse.

I first met Peter Yared when I invested in Sapho, where he was co-founder and CTO (acquired by Citrix in 2018) and quickly learned that he has an uncanny ability to identify big and important markets long before others. For the past two years, he’s been studying the increasing urgency and complexity around data privacy, leveraging his experience building data centers while CIO at CBS Interactive.

Today, Peter is unveiling his seventh company: InCountry, the first data residency-as-a-service platform that helps multinational companies be globally compliant. I’m excited to co-lead InCountry’s seed round with my friend, Ray Tonsing, from Caffeinated Capital.

It’s nearly impossible for companies operating across the world – including any SaaS or eCommerce company that’s conducting business beyond its borders – to keep up with the stream of new government regulations and requirements. Since GDPR’s implementation in May of 2018, there have been more than 95,000 complaints totaling more than $100 million in fines, and 74% of companies operating in the EU still don’t meet GDPR requirements. The problem will only worsen.

InCountry’s platform securely stores and retrieves records in their country of origin, so multinational companies can stay compliant with local regulations. This is accomplished with only eight lines of code and can easily be integrated within 10 minutes, with just a click of a button - literally. As a result, applications can live anywhere, but data stays within the virtual borders of its “country of residence.” Equally as important: InCountry allows customers to outsource their compliance risk by insuring 3x the value of customer spend and partnering with leading law firms across the world to provide country-specific expertise.

InCountry comprises leaders with extensive experience in enterprise infrastructure software, cyber security architecture, cryptography and developer tools. Chief Product Officer, Alex Castro, was one of the original members of the AWS team at Amazon, worked on autonomous vehicles at Uber, and founded the Microsoft CRM product. I have no doubt their work will have a far-reaching positive impact on all of us by helping keep our data secure and I can’t wait to see it unfold.