Utrecht-based data collection & modeling platform Objectiv shuts operations

Utrecht-based Objectiv, an open-source data collection and modeling platform for product analytics, announced on Thursday that it is shutting operations.

The company’s co-founder and CEO, Vincent Hoogsteder, shared the news on LinkedIn, “Just sometimes, it’s go up – or go home.”

Founded in 2018, the platform enabled data teams to run product analytics from their notebooks with complete control over data and models.

The Dutch company raised a total funding of $5.5M from several investors, including Herman Kienhuis, River Venture Partners, LocalGlobe, and Fly Ventures. 

Objectiv shuts down: The reason

According to Hoogsteder, Objectiv tried pivoting in mid-2021 from “continuing to build our product on top of existing solutions” to “rebuilding the way analytics data is captured in the best possible way to enable AI.” 

As a part of the process, the management restructured the team with a smaller group of people going back into build-from-zero mode. 

Hoogsteder stated that things were looking bright for the company after pivoting. 

“The biggest challenge to capture data from very different companies in exactly the same way showed great proof points,” he says.

Several users, from fintech to gaming to e-commerce, benefitted from Objectiv’s pivoted solution. However, Hoogsteder disclosed the traction was slower from a go-to-market side.

“The core reason was that the data teams that loved the prospect of better data had to convince their wider engineering teams to implement the product, which took time,” he adds. 

“It quickly became clear that the combination of traction, history, and today’s market would not allow us to raise the kind of round we found was needed to execute well. Landing the early product & team at a company that already had the developer reach was just not the right timing,” says Hoogsteder. 

Objectiv used the remaining runway to help the team find new roles and start new startups. 

“There is just nothing like building a company from zero. Which just very likely, won’t have been the last time,” he concludes.