Enigma Technologies
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Data science, Artificial intelligence, Business intelligence |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Marc DaCosta, Hicham Oudghiri |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | Global |
Key people | Marc DaCosta (Chairman), Hicham Oudghiri (CEO) |
| Products | Business intelligence, Data integration, Machine learning solutions, Enigma Public (retired), Enigma Labs |
Number of employees | 145 |
| Website | enigma |
Enigma Technologies, Inc. is a data science and artificial intelligence firm situated in New York City, specializing in delivering business intelligence by organizing and connecting diverse data sources. Established in 2012, the company utilizes machine learning technologies to support clients in sectors including financial services compliance, B2B marketing, insurance underwriting, and lending.
The company initially gained prominence through Enigma Public, a now-retired public data repository. Today, Enigma integrates hundreds of datasets to provide actionable insights for major corporations such as American Express, ADP, BB&T, Celgene, Merck, and PayPal.
Leadership comprises co-founders Marc DaCosta (chairman) and Hicham Oudghiri (CEO), with governance supported by board members affiliated with NEA and Comcast Ventures. Employing approximately 145 professionals, Enigma emphasizes data-driven solutions aimed at improving compliance and risk management for enterprise clients.
History
Founded by Marc DaCosta (Chairman) and Hicham Oudghiri (CEO) in response to the 2008 financial crisis, Enigma Technologies was created to make public data more interconnected and actionable. Based in New York City's Silicon Alley, the firm has grown to a staff exceeding 100 employees.
Enigma debuted at the 2013 TechCrunch Disrupt Conference, where it won the Startup Battlefield competition. In February 2013, the company secured $1.1 million in seed capital from investors such as TriplePoint Capital and Crosslink Capital. This was followed by a $4.5 million funding round in early 2014 involving The New York Times Company, Comcast Ventures, and American Express Ventures.
In June 2013, Enigma collaborated with Stanford and Harvard Universities to provide beta access for testing purposes. The company was a finalist in the NYCEDC "Take the HELM" competition in 2013 and participated in the FinTech Innovation Lab program in 2014. Leadership transitioned in August 2014 when Hicham Oudghiri succeeded Jeremy Bronfman as CEO.
A Series B funding round totaling $28.2 million was completed in June 2015, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with contributions from Two Sigma Ventures, New York City Investment Fund, and existing investors including American Express Ventures and Comcast Ventures.
In April 2017, Enigma updated its branding by changing its website domain from ".io" to Enigma.com. The company earned a spot on Forbes' FinTech 50 List in February 2018.
In September 2018, Enigma raised $95 million in financing led by NEA to enhance its platform that links real-world data with enterprise information. New strategic investors included BB&T, Capital One Growth Ventures, MetLife, and Third Point Management alongside previous backers Comcast Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, and Partnership Fund for NYC. This round marked the initial fintech investments for BB&T and MetLife.
Enigma Public
Enigma Public was a data warehouse platform consolidating public datasets obtained from government bodies, organizations, and companies worldwide. It provided one of the largest searchable collections of public data accessible via an online user interface equipped with integrated analytics tools. Users could either access data through a free account with usage limits or opt for commercial access via a web API.
This reusable dataset repository supported journalists and analysts investigating subjects such as FBI surveillance activities, residential fire incidents, and U.S. government shipping records. In June 2017, Enigma revamped Enigma Public to improve user experience and accessibility by introducing features that enabled quicker identification of data relationships and curating datasets derived from sources including Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
In August 2018, a Python software development kit (SDK) was launched for Enigma Public to simplify importing data into Jupyter notebooks and other Python-based projects through the API.
Enigma Public was officially discontinued on March 24, 2020.
Enigma Labs
Under the banner of Enigma Labs, the company has created open data solutions aimed at tackling significant social challenges and fostering civic participation.
The inaugural Lab, unveiled in October 2013, delivered live visualizations illustrating how the 2013 federal government shutdown affected government workers.
In 2014, Enigma partnered with the City of New Orleans to launch Smoke Signals, a project pinpointing areas without smoke detectors. This effort later expanded nationwide through collaborations with DataKind and the American Red Cross. By leveraging data from the American Housing Survey and the American Community Survey, it provides detailed block-level insights into smoke alarm coverage across more than 175 U.S. cities via interactive maps and downloadable datasets. Municipalities can improve the model’s accuracy by contributing local fire incident information.
These initiatives highlight Enigma’s deliberate application of data to develop meaningful tools and services that improve public safety and support informed decision-making.
Data
Enigma consolidates a vast array of public and private datasets from government bodies and various organizations into a centralized database. The company has obtained significant information through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, including accident reports from the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority and FOIA request logs from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, Enigma provides complimentary basic firmographic data on millions of U.S. companies accessible through its API.
Features
Users can access Enigma’s data via an online graphical user interface or an API, which supports fundamental statistical analysis such as computing minimums, maximums, or averages. Data exports are available in CSV files format or can be retrieved through HTTP requests for advanced processing. The company also develops customized interactive visualizations tailored to specific datasets.
On May 11, 2016, Enigma introduced ParseKit (now rebranded as "Concourse"), its internally developed software designed for ETL processes and data integration, aimed at simplifying public data collection.
In September 2018, Enigma rolled out knowledge graphs to facilitate data ingestion, normalization, and relationship mapping. Employing techniques such as linking, ontology mapping, and entity resolution, this platform reveals novel business insights accessible via API. The knowledge graphs integrate machine learning with Elasticsearch outputs to improve entity resolution capabilities, strengthening Enigma’s position in delivering advanced data intelligence solutions.