As host of the Giant Vision competition, the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry has reached out to former competitors to learn if or how their businesses have progressed. We look forward to building out this page to provide inspiration and information for future competitors.
Query.AI
Dhiraj Sharan, Founder and Chief Scientist
Query competed in 2019, placing second in the open category.
Briefly describe your business.
In the world of cybersecurity, the status quo is for companies to centralize all their security data, a time-consuming, costly process that provides incomplete data and can cause data compliance challenges. The Query Federated Search Platform is the first security tool to unlock access to and answers from cybersecurity data wherever it is stored, regardless of vendor or technology, without requiring centralization. This leads to massive cost savings, more efficient security operations across real-time and historical data sources, and reduced security analyst ramp-up time.
Describe the successes you have experienced since the competition and any potential connections to the Giant Vision program.
Since participating in the Giant Vision program, the awareness helped Query raise $20m funding and grow a global employee base. In Q1 of 2023, Query will introduce the next version of its cybersecurity federated search solution.
Did the connections you made during the competition have an impact on securing private equity and funding investments (including angel/venture capital investments)?
Over $1,000,000 has been secured. Our funding included participation from investors in the region like South Dakota Equity Partners, Black Hills Regional Angel Fund, and Falls Angel Fund.
Did the connections you made during the application process and competition lead to funding from other sources?
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) awarded Query with $25,000 Dakota POC Program and $20,000 Dakota Seeds Program Funds.
Did the competition experience or the connections you made through Giant Vision have an impact on your decision to maintain your business in the State of South Dakota?
Query initially hired talent graduating from universities in the region to build the first product prototype.
To continue upward momentum, what one thing does your company need most at this time?
The Query platform is very powerful and can be used in a myriad of ways. With the new launch, we will allow many more customers to innovate on new uses and share that through our community. This will be instrumental to our future growth.
General comments.
We want to thank SD Governor’s Giant Vision program for spotting Query early and helping us along our journey!
– Dhiraj Sharan, Founder and Chief Scientist
August 2022
The Query Team
