ModeOne is a company that offers the industry’s first automated, truly remote smartphone data collection solution for legal, compliance, or investigation purposes – with global reach and same-day delivery. The company helps clients target, collect, process, and review emerging forms of digital data and short-message chat information quickly, accurately, and with cost-certainty. Pulse 2.0 interviewed ModeOne Founder & CEO Matthew Rasmussen to learn more about the company.
Matthew Rasmussen’s Background
Can you tell us a little more about yourself and your background? Rasmussen said:
“I’m the Founder and CEO of ModeOne. Entrepreneurial roots run deep in my family, so it was only natural that after 20 years of working in and with top law firms and Fortune 500 companies that I founded a technology company to address some of the challenges I encountered. I’ve garnered expertise across the EDRM, and I’m passionate about using technology to tackle the legal industry’s toughest challenges, such as streamlining legal workflows and keeping costs predictable.”
Overview Of ModeOne
Could you provide an overview of ModeOne? What was the genesis for creating the company? Rasmussen shared:
“ModeOne is the only global framework capable of remote smartphone data collection with precise targeting technology to collect smartphone data that is pertinent to legal, compliance, or business needs; all while being able to ignore what is private and personal. It conducts selective data collection ensuring only relevant data is preserved.”
“While working for O’Melveny & Myers I experienced firsthand how traditional approaches to smartphone data collection and management were outdated, inefficient, and costly. For example, one litigation matter I worked on required gathering specific text messages from a certain date from one person’s smartphone. However, the only way to do so was to make a full copy of their phone – personal data, photos, and all – and take the phone away for over six hours while the data was copied to a hard drive. This process was overly complicated, burdensome, and an invasion of that person’s privacy. With today’s cloud technology I knew there had to be a smarter and more efficient way to collect smartphone data. Thus, ModeOne was born.”
Core Services
What are the company’s core services, products, and features? Rasmussen explained:
“ModeOne improves data privacy, eliminates the risk of over-preservation, and reduces the volume of smartphone data to analyze, greatly expediting the investigatory need or discovery process. Our patented SaaS solution is the first to offer fully remote and selective data collection from smartphones – filtering information by dates, participants, or specific apps – ensuring only relevant data is captured.”
“ModeOne works on both Android and iOS devices worldwide, serving attorneys, cybersecurity experts, corporate compliance officers, and eDiscovery professionals. We currently have data centers in the UK and US to support our international clients’ legal and business use-cases.”
“Our framework also allows our clients to (A) reduce associated collection costs including hourly fees, travel, device handling, and data storage fees, (B) automate workflows to gain access to data faster, and (C) utilize less energy, reducing the carbon footprint and aligning with their sustainability goals.”
Challenges
What are some of the challenges of the traditional smartphone data collection process? Rasmussen acknowledged:
“Historically, the process of collecting smartphone data for evidentiary, compliance, and investigation purposes has been cumbersome and invasive, using expensive forensic examiners and requiring the collection of all user data for analysis – including private communications, banking, health, and other private data. This over collection within traditional collection workflows drives huge privacy concerns and unnecessary costs. To complicate matters further, traditional collections processes rely on physical assets (e.g. laptops installed with collection software, sending technicians, shipping the physical phone, operating server farms), often creating logistical hurdles and interruption of day-to-day business, not to mention the price tag for the travel, data storage fees and IT technicians.”
Solving These Issues
How is ModeOne solving these issues? Rasmussen noted:
“As the only cloud-based, scalable smartphone data collection solution with strong InfoSec, we are addressing these challenges in the following ways.”
“One, our targeted collection method ensures that personal data like photos, texts, or PII is not collected, protecting custodians’ privacy. This innovation also reduces the volume of data to review, helping legal teams expedite the discovery process and improving the speed at which they can arrive at crucial conclusions.”
“Two, we can remotely handle thousands of phones rapidly;, for example, processing and collecting data from 2,000 phones in mere days, compared to months for traditional methods. This forward-thinking approach also offers another added value with a reduction in travel and operational costs that often comes with on-site and traditional collection.”‘
“Three, we ensure data security by uploading the collected information directly from the phone to a secure cloud data center, not to a physical drive that could be copied or stolen. Our data centers, located across multiple countries, address cross-border regulatory concerns.”
“And four: ModeOne is accessible and affordable to all plaintiffs. Traditional mobile data collection services can cost upwards of $4,000 for a single phone, pricing out smaller law firms and individuals involved in private legal matters or investigations. ModeOne’s remote solution is much more cost-effective.”
“The unique combination of scalability, security, and privacy protection positions ModeOne as the leader in efficient and trustworthy smartphone data collection.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Rasmussen pointed out:
“ModeOne is always prioritizing customer feedback and market needs, placing innovation and security at the forefront of what we do. Following the demand for the ModeOne solution at a global level to support our international clients’ legal and business use-cases in highly regulated countries, we expanded our services into the United Kingdom via the formation of a UK-based cloud infrastructure. Data ModeOne collects from smartphones in the UK and Europe is housed in our AWS London data center. We are planning additional expansions in Europe, Australia and Canada in 2025. This has allowed our clients to support remote phone collections for over 1,300 matters in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, EMEA, and other international regions.”
“We now support 22 different phone apps and recently announced full support and compatibility for Android 15, iPhone 16 and iOS 18. Maintaining support for new operating systems and devices is our top priority. We’ve consistently achieved unmatched support for new operating systems and hardware with zero-day support, meaning the day an update is released to the general public, ModeOne is updated for all of our clients and ready to extract data.”
“In addition to supporting the most popular applications for collection, we’ve also prioritized the ability to convert, import, and connect to a variety of industry leading eDiscovery review technologies, ensuring that clients can utilize the data ModeOne collects for efficient and immediate review. We provide clients with several options to export and convert ModeOne datasets in order to meet their needs— from a standalone PDF that can be used in a deposition, to millions of texts in RSMF for analytics and attorney-review and production.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of ModeOne’s most significant milestones? Rasmussen cited:
“2024 was a very pivotal year for ModeOne. We saw a 175% increase in new customers, saw an average increase of 500% in software license renewals, and doubled our headcount. We were named “LegalTech Startup of the Year” by LegalTech Breakthrough Awards and achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Certification, one of the most rigorous benchmarks for establishing and maintaining an information security management system.”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Rasmussen highlighted:
“ModeOne played a critical role in the success of a recent litigation matter for a law firm client with an aggressive 3-week deadline for data collection from over 60 custodians spread across multiple states. ModeOne remotely connected to each of the 60 custodians’ phones, selectively collected only the pertinent text messages from specific date ranges and immediately uploaded the data into an easy-to-digest database for the legal team to review.”
“Not only did we deliver results within the required timeframe (in fact, most of the data was available within hours of starting each device’s collection process), but we also significantly reduced collection costs, providing over 60% cost savings compared to what the law firm spent traditionally on collection. The legal team was able to meet their production deadline, supporting their litigation strategy effectively. Our remote and targeted process also meant the custodians did not have to relinquish their devices for days, and their personal data (photos, PII, private text messages, banking information) was not collected and at risk of being compromised.”
Future Of ModeOne
What’s next for ModeOne? Rasmussen emphasized:
“We’re continuously innovating to enhance smartphone data discovery, integrating client feedback into our platform while introducing new features that streamline remote data collection. This year, we’re leveraging emerging technologies to expand our capabilities, increasing speed, security, and efficiency. Our commitment to innovation ensures we stay ahead of the curve, delivering solutions that redefine the industry and reinforce our leadership position.”
Opinion About The Industry
What excites you the most about ModeOne’s future or the industry as a whole? Rasmussen concluded:
“The industry needs will continue to evolve, and we are adequately positioned to not only address them but remain ahead of the curve with our agile and technology-first approach that promotes continuous innovation. It’s a very exciting time for ModeOne and our clients.”
