XOR Data Exchange, which facilitates cross-industry data sharing through permission-based controls and audits, today announced the close of a $1.8 million investment round led by Chicago Ventures and KGC Capital. XOR also announced the addition to its board of directors of Norm Willox, an expert in rapidly developing high-growth companies in the information services sector.
'XOR will use the capital to expand our unparalleled team of technical and analytic experts and scale our hardware infrastructure to keep pace with the growing demand for our services from customers in financial services, telecommunications and other industries looking to monetize their proprietary data,' said Mike Cook, founder and CEO of XOR Data Exchange. 'I am also very pleased to be adding Norm Willox as a director. His expertise and insight will be invaluable during this period of rapid growth for XOR.'
The sharing of proprietary data across industries can enhance credit and fraud risk management, authentication, marketing and compliance efforts. However, regulatory and competitive concerns have limited the success of most efforts to date.
'The ability to manage and share data across industries will define the digital economy in the coming decades,' said Stuart Larkins, co-founder and partner of Chicago Ventures. 'XOR brings unique perspective and expertise to this challenge, and their commitment to giving data owners complete control of their information really sets them apart. We're thrilled to come alongside XOR and help take this exciting company to the next level.'
XOR's data exchanges give data owners precise control over the specific conditions under which their data can be accessed, by whom and for what purpose. A comprehensive audit trail gives owners a complete picture of how their data is being used.
XOR exceeds regulatory and industry requirements to ensure data is safely stored and transmitted, employing security measures including a state-of-the-art intrusion detection system, active network scanning, logging and monitoring all system events in a robust web-application firewall - all while maintaining strong encryption in transit and at rest.
Norm Willox founded and initially built the risk management and fraud analytic business for LexisNexis, and was the company's first chief privacy officer. He is currently the CEO and founder of Bluewater International, a leading growth management firm focused on corporate and public-sector risk management challenges in information and identity management, cyber infrastructure, homeland security and healthcare data.
'XOR has created an innovative and most needed solution to meet the growing demand for secure, transparent and controllable data sharing across industries,' Willox said. 'Mike Cook and his team at XOR are helping organizations draw the value out of their data while maintaining control, security and competitive positions. I'm thrilled to join XOR's board and contribute to a company that is revolutionizing the way we think about data.'
About XOR Data Exchange:
XOR Data Exchange, the nation's first permission-based data exchange, is leading a data revolution by giving control back to data owners. Its patent-pending permission-based data exchanges enable multiple, non-linear data-sharing relationships across competing and non-competing companies and industries, ensuring transparency and accountability among data owners while adding significant monetary value to previously under-optimized data. To learn more, visit http://www.XOR.exchange.