CYTRIO is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) data privacy rights management platform that helps organizations comply with data privacy regulations such as CCPA, CPRA, VCDPA, CPA, and others. Pulse 2.0 interviewed CYTRIO founder and CEO Vijay Basani to learn more.
Vijay Basani’s Background
Basani has been working in the data privacy and cybersecurity space for over 30 years and considers himself a serial entrepreneur, founding WebManage Technologies (acquired by NetApp), AppIQ (acquired by HP), and Cygilant (previously EiQ networks).
“In 2020, I founded CYTRIO, a next-generation data privacy compliance company, to address companies’ challenges of staying compliant with increasing data privacy regulations in the U.S. and worldwide – easily and cost-effectively. My areas of expertise include product ideation, product strategy, go-to-market strategy, growing innovative startups, team building, angel investments, and VC fundraising. I am also the co-owner of five patents for the architecture and design of Content Delivery System, Adaptive Policy Engine, and SLA Management,” said Basani.
Formation Of CYTRIO
How did the idea for CYTRIO come together? “The digital transformation era has translated into companies collecting large amounts of personal information to understand consumer behavior and enhance customer experience and retention, and grow revenue. I have long been intrigued with the breach of personal consumer data by the brands we trust and use every day. Receiving breach notifications from some of the biggest and most trusted brands made me realize what little control we have over our personal information. Privacy rights violations by Google, Facebook, Marriott, and others moved me to look deeper into personal data rights. I observed consumers and advocacy groups worldwide boycotting major brands because of data breaches and demanding government regulations to give consumers control over their data. In a study by Cisco in 2021, 86% of respondents said they care about their data privacy and want more control over their personal information. Seventy-nine percent said they were willing to act to get that control,” Basani shared. “Today, more than 120 data privacy regulations have been introduced around the world to address data breaches and the misuse of personal data. Privacy regulations give citizens control over how their personal information is used and require businesses to be more transparent in their handling of personal information. To build digital trust and comply with privacy rights regulations, companies must respect the privacy rights of individuals. CYTRIO was launched to help companies easily and cost-effectively build trust and loyalty from consumers while avoiding harsh penalties and fines that are now coming with non-compliance.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Basani’s favorite memory working for CYTRIO so far? “It’s always fun to start a new company, build new technology solutions, and adapt to changing markets. There are always difficulties, but I have always found it exciting to launch a new company and take on new challenges,” Basani reflected.
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges Basani faced in building the company? “Everyone is watching the dollar. So, yes, there has been a macroeconomic impact for CYTRIO. With the current macroeconomic environment, there has been a delay in the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which would bring much needed data privacy regulation and enforcement on the federal level. Businesses are delaying implementing data privacy solutions because we are not quite there yet with active enforcement on the federal level,” Basani acknowledged. “When we started developing the CYTRIO product, we thought there would be a federal data privacy law in effect by now. Unfortunately, no one can say with any confidence that the U.S. will have a federal data privacy regulation. Initially, we were focused on Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR), a way for data subjects to request access to the personal information that an organization has stored on them. But due to the delay of a federal regulation and enforcement, we have had to adapt, thinking about what data privacy solutions are most needed by companies. This has affected all data privacy companies.”
Core Products
What are CYTRIO’s core products and features? “CYTRIO’s privacy UX platform helps organizations comply with complex data privacy laws as mandated by ePrivacy Directive, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and others. The company offers an all-in-one data privacy platform that unifies and delivers consent and preference management, Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) management, do not sell my information, and policy templates to help businesses of all sizes comply with complex data privacy laws. CYTRIO’s solutions are simple to deploy, deliver value in a few minutes, and do not require dedicated privacy teams to manage,” Basani explained.
Evolution Of CYTRIO’s Technology
How has CYTRIO’s technology evolved since launching? “The CYTRIO data privacy platform has been reducing response times for DSAR from days to minutes, saving businesses on response time and costs. We recently introduced a comprehensive data privacy UX platform that includes consent and preference management, do not sell my information, and policy templates, in addition to DSAR management in one data privacy compliance platform. Businesses of all sizes can easily and affordably comply in minutes with complex data privacy laws,” Basani noted. “The growing list of data privacy regulations in the U.S. and around the world is not slowing down. Several states will begin enforcing new privacy laws in 2023, including Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia, with more to follow. We continue expanding our product offering to help businesses keep pace with this growing list.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of CYTRIO’s most significant milestones? “CYTRIO has conducted the most extensive research in the market on companies’ preparedness to comply with CCPA, CPRA, and GDPR. To date, we have researched more than 12,000 mid to large companies in the U.S. with revenues from $25 million to $5+ billion. As of December 31, 2022, our research showed that 92% of companies across all verticals, states, and business sizes were still unprepared for CCPA and CPRA, and 91% are unprepared for GDPR, using time-consuming and error-prone manual processes to try to stay compliant,” Basani commented. The company recently examined 600 of those previously researched organizations, identifying 6.67% of companies that were using manual processes in Q1 2022 moved to compliance automation solutions by Q2 2023, while 14.67% of non-compliant companies moved to either automated or manual compliance solutions. Basani noted, “Overall, approximately only 9% of companies have implemented a compliance automation solution in the U.S. We aim to help increase that percentage because companies will be facing very strict regulations (and fines) once these laws are enforced. Our solutions are simple to deploy, deliver value in just a few minutes, and do not require dedicated privacy teams to manage. We recently launched our UX privacy platform where a company of any size can easily and quickly implement outward-facing data privacy compliance tools to provide transparency and trust with their customers.”
Funding
To date, the company has raised nearly $6 million in funding.
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is CYTRIO pursuing? “The market is evolving. It is over a $1 billion total addressable market,” Basani assessed.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates CYTRIO from its competition? “There are many obstacles for companies trying to comply with data privacy regulations. Solutions on the market are expensive, cumbersome to deploy, and difficult to use while not solving the problem. CYTRIO is directly addressing companies’ mounting, complex data privacy challenges with a cost-effective privacy UX solution that is helping enterprises to better understand their data assets, build digital trust, and ultimately stay in compliance with data privacy regulations. CYTRIO’s solutions are simple to deploy, deliver value in a few minutes, and do not require dedicated privacy teams to manage. Customers are avoiding expensive penalties, damage to brand reputation, erosion of customer trust, and potential loss of revenue,” Basani revealed.
Future Company Goals
What are some of CYTRIO’s future company goals? “We plan to expand the data privacy platform with an emphasis on easy-to-deploy, use-to-use, and time-to-value. Our main focus is to continue to listen to the data privacy regulatory environment and help customers navigate evolving data privacy regulations,” Basani concluded.
