We humans might not know everything right from the get-go, but fortunately enough, we have the flexibility to master it over time. This flexibility keeps the horizons open for us, thus giving us a constant chance at becoming better. Now, if we talk about the things humans have learned throughout their history, we’ll be referring to an impossibly big expanse of knowledge, so we must narrow down our focus first and bring it to some more important lessons. When that’s the given template, the first and foremost mention has to zero in upon technology. In fact, technology didn’t just bring an exclusive or even a few lessons. It rather introduced a large knowledge pool, which will never go empty due to technology’s own ever-expanding footprint. With each new foray, the creation would teach us something unique, and as of late, it has been teaching us about data and its importance. However, while we pick up that information, we are also learning that how volatile it can be, in case it’s not used properly. A recently-funded startup called Caden helps you around the said volatility by giving you the ultimate control of your data.
Caden is now officially up and running after having secured a pre-seed funding worth $3.4 million. According to certain reports, Jerry Yang, co-founder of TechCrunch’s parent company, and Yahoo! were two of the primary participants in the round. Apart from them, Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital), Don Callahan (former Citigroup CTO) and other angel investors also reportedly chucked their hat in the ring. In the most basic sense, Caden allows you to share your data with a company of your choice and get paid in return. Deeming itself as a “zero-party” data platform, the company lets you stay actively involved in monitoring what insights are being drawn from your information. It does so through an “on-device vault,” where you can store all your data. Beyond that, Caden further provides you with an API called Link, which you can use for collecting data from accounts like email or bank.
“When you think about how much effort and resources are required to collect and store data, infer insights, protect it, buy third-party data, and keep it all current, Caden is creating a platform solution that allows many companies to tap into without doing it themselves,” said Jerry Yang.
Caden is hoping to launch a beta mobile application in the next six months. It will setup the perfect platform for users to start receiving compensation right away. Assuming the whole thing works out, the company’s zero-party approach can very well prove to be an effective response against the regulatory complexities created by the California Consumer Privacy Act.