Techstars Alumni, Keen IO Raises $11.3M To Make Custom Analytics A Whole Lot Easier

Last week was a big one for Techstars alum Keen

 IO

, a custom analytics platform that raised a whopping $11.3M led by Sequoia Capital. So what are custom analytics? Think of it as a way for developers to act as scientists measuring very specific things over time. In the startup world you’re often asked what your KPI’s are, and no, many of these metrics can’t be simply tracked in Google Analytics, but they can with Keen IO.

Keen.io

Sequoia is a huge name in the VC world and Keen IO’s CEO Kyle Wild was surprised and excited to find them not only onboard, but leading the round:

“I just didn’t expect such a name brand firm to understand it or want to invest. When I talk to VCs, they tend to think that I’m fucking crazy. … And they tend not to agree with our principles,” said Wild. (Source – VentureBeat)Techstars

Keen.io went through the Techstars Cloud Program led by Managing Director Jason Seats who is also the Managing Director for Techstars Austin, the program that Daina and myself are going through right now. Jason is incredibly good at what he does and Keen.io’s raise is another great example of a startup that has absolutely hit it out of the park after going through a Techstars program run by Jason.

Of course it doesn’t all start with an $11.3M round, fundraising comes in stages with each “series” meant to hit a particular milestone or set of milestones. Keen.io started by raising $750,000 (Seed Round), then $2.35M (another Seed), and now has raised the hardest of all, Series A. It’s not uncommon to see startups raise a few seed rounds before going for their Series A.

What’s the main difference between a Seed Round and an A Round? While it really just comes down to words and letters typically a Seed Round is raised while you’re honing the product and building the user-base, the A round and other subsequent lettered rounds are when you’ve found product market fit and are looking to scale (read more here).

Huge congrats to Kyle and the Keen IO team, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of the Techstars family and can’t wait to watch Keen IO continue to grow!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton