Former Airbnb employees are introducing advanced technology and automation to enhance data security

Teleskope, a startup founded by former Airbnb employees Julie Trias and Elizabeth Nammour, has secured a $5 million seed investment for their automated data protection tool. The duo, who previously worked on Airbnb’s data team, identified a need for a more efficient and effective solution to manage and protect data spread across various sources.

Trias explained that existing data protection tools they tested at Airbnb were not able to automatically detect and remediate sensitive data, leading to challenges in data security. This frustration inspired them to create Teleskope, which allows customers to connect to different data sources, identify sensitive data, and take necessary actions such as isolating or deleting it.

The startup is currently targeting data teams and data governance engineers who need to clean up data sets in their data warehouse, prepare data for model training, or ensure compliance by deleting data for specific users. Teleskope’s solution utilizes a pipeline of models tailored to different types of data, such as natural language, structured tabular formats, and code bases.

Despite facing challenges as a female founding team in the male-dominated venture capital world, Trias and Nammour were able to secure funding from investors who understood their vision. The seed investment was led by Primary Venture Partners, with participation from Lerer Hippeau, Plug and Play Ventures, and Essence VC.

Teleskope’s success highlights the importance of innovative solutions in the data protection space and the resilience of female entrepreneurs in navigating the startup ecosystem.