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§ Private Profile · New York City, NY, USA
Umami is a technology company.
Umami has raised $3.6M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Umami.
Umami has raised $3.6M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Umami develops an open-source, privacy-focused web analytics platform, providing a transparent alternative to conventional tracking solutions. The company's core product enables website owners to gather essential traffic and user behavior data while ensuring complete control over their information. It offers a simpler, more user-friendly interface designed to present actionable insights without the complex data processing often associated with larger analytics providers.
The company was co-founded by brothers Mike, Brian, and Francis Cao, with Mike initiating the project around 2020. The foundational insight stemmed from Mike's personal dissatisfaction with existing analytics platforms, specifically the lack of data ownership and transparency. This frustration drove the creation of a system where users could manage and understand their website data without compromising visitor privacy.
Umami serves a diverse user base, including developers, marketers, and businesses that prioritize data privacy and demand more direct control over their website analytics. The platform is designed for those seeking clarity and simplicity in understanding site performance. Umami envisions empowering internet users and website operators with secure, ethical, and self-hosted analytics, fostering an online ecosystem where data collection respects user privacy by default.
Umami has raised $3.6M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in July 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2022 | $2M Seed | Race Capital | Accel, Intel Capital | Announced |
| Aug 16, 2011 | $1.6M Seed | — | Battery Ventures, NEA | Announced |
Umami has raised $3.6M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Umami's investors include Race Capital, Accel, Intel Capital, Battery Ventures, NEA.
# High-Level Overview
Umami is an open-source, privacy-focused web analytics platform designed as a simpler and more privacy-conscious alternative to Google Analytics[3]. The company provides businesses and website operators with tools to collect, analyze, and understand web traffic data while maintaining visitor privacy and data ownership[1]. Founded by Mike, an electrical engineering graduate turned developer, Umami addresses a critical gap in the analytics market for users who prioritize privacy compliance and user experience over feature bloat[4].
The platform serves a broad audience—from individual website operators to enterprises—with particular appeal to organizations concerned about GDPR compliance and data privacy[3]. With fewer than 25 employees and less than $5 million in total funding, Umami operates as a lean, community-driven venture headquartered in San Francisco[2]. The company's business model centers on becoming the ubiquitous standard in privacy-focused analytics, with monetization opportunities emerging through enterprise offerings that include managed hosting, geographic compliance, and custom security policies[3].
# Origin Story
Mike's journey to founding Umami began with a personal need[4]. As an open-source advocate who had consistently released side projects to the community, he created Umami initially as another personal project to analyze traffic on his own websites[3][4]. The project quickly gained traction, with growing community interest convincing Mike that a substantial market opportunity existed for a privacy-first analytics alternative[3].
The turning point came when maintaining Umami as a side project became unsustainable—Mike found himself spending all his free time as developer, product manager, and customer support agent[3]. This inflection point forced a strategic decision: either continue as a community project or build a proper business. Mike chose the latter, committing fully to transforming Umami from a passion project into a scalable company[3]. This transition required adopting an entirely different mindset, shifting from maintenance-focused thinking to growth-oriented business strategy[3].
# Core Differentiators
# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape
Umami rides the convergence of three powerful trends: the privacy-conscious web, open-source adoption, and regulatory pressure around data protection. As organizations face increasing GDPR enforcement and consumer demand for privacy, the limitations of traditional analytics platforms become acute. Umami positions itself at the intersection of these forces, offering a viable alternative precisely when enterprises are actively seeking privacy-compliant solutions[3].
The timing is particularly significant given the broader shift toward decentralized, user-respecting technologies. By open-sourcing the platform, Umami taps into the developer community's growing skepticism of proprietary, data-extractive business models. This approach creates a virtuous cycle: community contributions improve the product, which attracts more users, which generates more feedback and contributions[3].
Within the analytics ecosystem, Umami challenges the dominance of Google Analytics and similar platforms by proving that privacy and functionality need not be mutually exclusive. The company influences the broader landscape by demonstrating that there is genuine demand for alternatives—a signal that may accelerate similar privacy-focused innovations across the martech and analytics sectors.
# Quick Take & Future Outlook
Umami's path forward hinges on achieving the "ubiquity" Mike identified as essential to long-term success[3]. The company must balance its open-source ethos with sustainable monetization, likely through tiered offerings: free self-hosted versions for developers and small operators, and premium managed services for enterprises requiring compliance, custom infrastructure, and dedicated support[3].
The next phase will test whether Umami can scale beyond its current lean footprint while maintaining the product simplicity and community trust that define its brand. As privacy regulations tighten globally and enterprises increasingly audit their data practices, Umami's timing and positioning suggest significant runway for growth. The company's influence will likely extend beyond analytics itself—demonstrating that open-source, privacy-first alternatives can compete effectively against entrenched incumbents, potentially inspiring similar challenges across adjacent markets.
Key people at Umami.
