Savant Labs, a startup focused on empowering business analysts with automation, has raised $18.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Dell Technologies Capital. This investment brings the company's total funding to $29.5 million, further solidifying its position in the competitive data analytics market.

The company's no-code automation platform is designed specifically for business analysts, who often spend a significant amount of time working with spreadsheets. Savant's user experience is built around a spreadsheet-like interface, allowing analysts to create, transform, and manipulate data using standard Excel formulas. The platform also features a graphical user interface that represents the workflows and automations set up by users, making it easy to visualize and manage complex data processes.

Savant Labs' founder and CEO, Chitrang Shah, has a background in machine learning models, having previously worked at Lattice Engines before it was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet in 2019. Shah's vision for Savant Labs is to extend the work he did at Lattice, focusing on a broader range of use cases beyond sales and marketing, including finance, supply chain, and HR analytics.

Shah argues that many tools on the market focus on data engineers, who are typically in charge of automating analytics solutions. However, with a shortage of data engineers, analysts are often bottlenecked, creating a significant market opportunity for Savant Labs. The company is positioning itself as a next-generation alternative to established players like Alteryx, which Shah believes have stalled in terms of innovation.

Dell Technologies Capital partner Radhika Malik echoed Shah's sentiments, stating that "an enterprise being able to harness the power of its data is no longer a competitive advantage—it's a business imperative." Malik praised Savant Labs' deep technical experience in evolving analytics tools and its clear vision for how AI will transform the experience for end-user analysts and enterprises as a whole.

Savant's platform can connect to a wide range of data sources, including spreadsheets, data warehouses, databases, and SaaS apps. It also provides centralized tools for managing data access, as well as standard role-based access controls and other security features. The company is currently targeting larger businesses with over 1,000 employees, with several Fortune 500 companies already using its service in industries like healthcare, energy, and insurance.

Over time, Savant Labs plans to expand its reach to small and medium-sized businesses. Shah's ultimate goal is to make analytics accessible to a broader set of users while enabling central teams to maintain governance and oversight. He believes that governance and collaboration are significant gaps in the market, and Savant Labs is well-positioned to address these challenges.

In addition to Dell Technologies Capital, other investors participating in this round include Vertex Ventures, Cota Capital, Village Global, Bloomberg Beta, West Wave Capital, and Uncorrelated Ventures. With this latest funding, Savant Labs is poised to accelerate its growth and further establish itself as a leader in the no-code automation platform market.