Mine

Mine is a growing start-up working to transform the Internet to be more secure and trustworthy while maintaining its full advantages for users. The company was established in late 2018 by three founders, Gal Ringel, Gal Golan, and Kobi Nissan, all of whom accumulated extensive knowledge and experience in the field of security, privacy, and online user data. Before founding Mine, Ringel and Golan dealt with data and cybersecurity as part of their military service in the intelligence unit 8200. At the same time, Nissan worked heavily with consumer data during his time as an economist at King, an international gaming company.

The main trigger: The GDPR data privacy regulation goes into effect in Europe

When the three conceived the company’s ideation, the new GDPR privacy regulation had just been launched in Europe (since then, more and more data privacy regulations have been initiated in other countries, including the USA, Brazil, China, England, and many others). At the same time, there was a wave of cybercrime unfolding, with data breaches by hackers and data theft, including identity theft and credit card fraud, reaching new highs. This not only harmed consumers but also caused damage to the reputation of the targeted companies. The combination of these two trends triggered the proposal of an innovative service, the first in the world, to reduce the digital footprint of internet users. Upon its establishment, The company used the image of an ostrich burying its head in the sand to portray the situation internet users find themselves in, and it became the trademark and symbol of the company. Mine helps people and companies find their data and become in control of it.

MineOS and MineApp

Mine currently operates two platforms, one covering private consumer needs and one supporting companies’ data privacy needs. The first platform, the older of the two, is MineApp, which you can sign up for at saymine.com and is intended for end users. This tool helps locate the companies that hold your personal information online, understand how much of the data is at risk of online exposure, and to be able to submit a deletion request to remove their data, according to data privacy regulations, at the click of a button. The second platform, MineOS, is intended for companies and operates for legal & privacy departments and IT, engineering, and data teams. MineOS is powered by a real-time and continuous data mapping technology that maps all the company data across all systems, such as cloud assets or SAAS apps. By doing this, Mine helps businesses build their privacy program and strengthen their brand by being transparent in collecting and using personal data. MineOS’s vision is to become the Single Source of Data Truth within the organization, which can simplify all data privacy, governance, and compliance needs and minimize its risk profile.

Over 5 million end-users and hundreds of paying enterprise customers

As the privacy regulations enforced worldwide have proliferated, the market share in this field has also increased. Today, MineApp has over 5 million consumer users (B2C), and about half a million have been saved from digital dangers thanks to their activity through the company’s app. The company’s primary business model has hundreds of paying enterprises (B2B), which helps these companies comply with various privacy regulations (among other things, to locate all the systems and the data they hold). MineOS’s customers include Guesty, Reddit, Hellofresh, Fender, data.ai, FIFA, and Snappy. The company’s vision is to connect the umbrella of protection it gives to companies and businesses and provide this protection to private consumer users.

Capital raised

To date, Mine has raised 12.5 million dollars in its SEED and A rounds. In the current B round, the company raised another 30 million dollars, a total of 42.5 million dollars. The new funding is co-led by Battery Ventures and Paypal Ventures, including a new significant participation from the US insurance giant Nationwide Ventures. All the previous investors also participated, including Gradient Ventures (Google’s VC fund specializing in artificial intelligence), giant American insurance companies MassMutual, the German fund Headline Ventures, and Saban Ventures.

Balance between personal life and career; human capital cultivation

Mine employs over 30 people across Israel, the USA, and Europe. As a young and dynamic organization, the average age of its employees is 30 or more, with many of the employees being parents of small children.
The company understands this and advocates a proper balance between career, life, and family. This is why the company’s employees are not measured according to hours spent at work, but according to the products and results they produce.
The company also aims to nurture its employees and managers and promote a healthy work-life balance. Mine often sends staff to conferences and professional training, which promotes them professionally and personally. The company practices open and direct communication between all ranks of employees so that every employee’s voice is heard, valued, and impactful. Any individual can influence the company’s products and roadmap as real partners.