Exonar
Exonar is a UK-based data discovery software company that enables enterprises to find, classify and remediate sensitive information across structured and unstructured data estates. Its indexing-based platform serves regulated buyers in pharmaceuticals, financial services and critical infrastructure via subscription software and professional services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersReading, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Exonar does
Exonar Ltd. is a UK-based data discovery software company that enables organisations to find, classify and act on structured and unstructured data at scale. Its flagship platform, Exonar Reveal (now rebranded NOW Privacy following acquisition by NowVertical Group), indexes an organisation's entire data estate — across Windows, SharePoint, Exchange, Office 365, OneDrive, databases and line-of-business systems — using a proprietary indexing engine (the Exonar Index) that is positioned as faster and more comprehensive than scanning-based alternatives. The platform is organised around a four-stage workflow (Connect, Discover, Classify, Act) and uses machine learning to identify sensitive, personal and high-risk information; the Act stage exposes the index via API so that existing remediation tools can be plugged in.
The company sells primarily to enterprise buyers in regulated and data-intensive verticals — pharmaceuticals (GSK, Mundipharma), financial services (Lloyds Banking Group, Arrow Global, EFG, Winton), food and beverage (Campden BRI), agriculture (ABP) and national critical infrastructure — addressing three primary use cases: information security, governance/risk/compliance (notably GDPR), and strategic IT/operations. Its go-to-market is a hybrid of direct enterprise sales (Demo → Test Drive → Rollout) plus a free 1TB / two-week Test Drive that functions as a product-led growth entry point. Revenue is generated via subscription software licences for the platform and attached professional services (pre-sales, implementation, training, customer success).
Exonar was founded in 2007 in Reading, UK, raised a $1.6M round in 2017 and an $8.4M Series A in 2019 (led by Beringea and Downing Ventures, with Amadeus Capital Partners and Winton Ventures), and was subsequently acquired by NowVertical Group, under whose portfolio the technology now operates as NOW Privacy.
Exonar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Exonar
- Legal name
- Exonar Ltd.
- Website
- https://exonar.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Exonar is a UK-based data discovery software company that enables enterprises to find, classify and remediate sensitive information across structured and unstructured data estates. Its indexing-based platform serves regulated buyers in pharmaceuticals, financial services and critical infrastructure via subscription software and professional services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Exonar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Data Discovery Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Data Observability & Warehouse Monitoring (HDAEABAK)
Keywords
Where Exonar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Reading
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Exonar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Subscription: Subscription-based software licensing for Exonar Reveal data discovery platform. Organizations subscribe to access the platform's indexing, search, classification, and remediation capabilities.
- Professional Services: Includes pre-sales support, implementation, training, professional services, and customer success. Test Drive and Rollout services provide hands-on data discovery engagement.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | One time | Free Test Drive - 1TB trial on organization's own data |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Exonar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Exonar provides data discovery software (Exonar Reveal, now rebranded as NOW Privacy under NowVertical Group) that uses proprietary indexing technology and machine learning to discover, classify, and analyze structured and unstructured information across an organization's entire data estate. The platform helps enterprises locate sensitive data, PII, and risky information to address information security, GDPR compliance, and data migration/storage optimization use cases, with the ability to index billions of items and deliver search results in seconds.
Product overview
Exonar is a data discovery software company that offers a unified platform called Exonar Reveal for discovering, classifying, and acting on organizational data at scale. The platform operates through a four-stage workflow (Connect, Discover, Classify, Act) that enables organizations to index billions of items of structured and unstructured information across their entire data estate. Exonar provides data discovery, remediation capabilities, and professional services, with products supporting information security, governance, risk & compliance, and strategic IT & operations use cases. The company was acquired by NowVertical Group and its flagship product has been rebranded as NOW Privacy.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Exonar Reveal: The company's flagship data discovery software platform that enables organizations to discover, classify, and act on their structured and unstructured data at scale.
Products and services
- Exonar Reveal Exonar's flagship data discovery platform that enables organizations to find and fix risk across their entire data estate by indexing billions of items of structured and unstructured information, providing visibility of data content, sensitive information, and risky data. (Now rebranded as NOW Privacy under NowVertical Group.)
- Test Drive A free 2-week trial offering indexing of up to 1TB (approximately 2 million items) of organizational unstructured data, providing insight reports and discovery of risk areas and business critical information.
- Rollout Phased deployment service for Exonar on priority data sources and use cases, including Exonar instance installation, integration into customer environment, and direct data source indexing.
- Exonar Services Professional services including pre-sales, support, professional services, and customer success to help organizations implement and optimize data discovery using Exonar.
Quantifiable outcome
- 42% improved security for Information Security customers
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Exonar
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Exonar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature6 records
Exonar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- NowVertical GroupcoreExonar has been acquired by NowVertical Group. Exonar's product capabilities (particularly Exonar Reveal) are now offered under the NOW Privacy product brand as part of NowVertical's portfolio.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Exonar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Microsoft Purview: Microsoft Purview (formerly Azure Purview) is a hyperscaler-grade data governance and catalog platform bundled into the Microsoft ecosystem. It serves the same enterprise data discovery buyer as Exonar but with broader portfolio scope and tighter integration into Microsoft 365 and Azure data estates.
- Informatica: Informatica offers a data catalog, data governance and data quality suite used by large enterprises to discover and classify data. It addresses overlapping discovery and classification use cases, particularly within enterprise data engineering teams.
- Talend (Qlik): Talend (now owned by Qlik) provides data integration, quality and governance tooling including data cataloging and discovery. It is adjacent to Exonar's classification and remediation workflows at enterprise IT buyers.
- IBM watsonx.data / Guardium: IBM's watsonx and Guardium suites deliver enterprise-scale data discovery, classification and data security posture management. They address the same CISO and compliance buyer Exonar serves, but as part of a much larger portfolio offering.
Direct peers
- Collibra: Collibra offers a data intelligence and governance platform spanning cataloging, classification, and compliance. It overlaps directly with Exonar on the data governance and GRC buyer it serves, especially in regulated industries such as financial services and pharma.
- BigID: BigID provides a data intelligence platform for data discovery, classification, and privacy management across structured and unstructured estates. Its scanning, ML and connector-based approach targets the same GDPR-driven use cases as Exonar Reveal.
- Varonis: Varonis is a publicly listed data security and classification platform that automates discovery and remediation of sensitive data across file systems and cloud stores. It is the most direct competitive analog to Exonar's data discovery and classification workflow for security and compliance buyers.
- OneTrust: OneTrust is a large privacy, security and governance platform with data discovery and data mapping modules that compete head-on with Exonar's GDPR-focused discovery proposition. The buyer (DPO / compliance officer) and use cases (DSAR, consent, data mapping) substantially overlap.
Emerging players
- WireWheel: WireWheel offers a privacy management platform with data discovery, mapping and DSAR automation capabilities. It serves the same mid-market and enterprise privacy use cases as Exonar's privacy and GDPR modules.
- Securiti.ai: Securiti is a fast-growing data privacy and security cloud focused on data discovery, DSR automation and consent management. It competes with Exonar's NOW Privacy product for privacy and security buyers at global enterprises.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Exonar social profiles
Digital presenceExonar compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Exonar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Exonar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Exonar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Exonar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Exonar
What does Exonar do?
Exonar provides data discovery software (Exonar Reveal, now rebranded as NOW Privacy under NowVertical Group) that uses proprietary indexing technology and machine learning to discover, classify, and analyze structured and unstructured information across an organization's entire data estate. The platform helps enterprises locate sensitive data, PII, and risky information to address information security, GDPR compliance, and data migration/storage optimization use cases, with the ability to index billions of items and deliver search results in seconds.
Is Exonar a public or private company?
Exonar is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Exonar founded?
Exonar was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Exonar based?
Exonar is headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Exonar make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Subscription is the primary driver. The others are professional Services.
Who are Exonar's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Microsoft Purview, Informatica, Talend (Qlik) and IBM watsonx.data / Guardium. Direct peers are Collibra, BigID, Varonis and OneTrust. Emerging players are WireWheel and Securiti.ai.
Does Exonar have an API?
Yes. Exonar provides an API that enables users to connect existing data remediation technologies into the Exonar index, allowing them to act on discovered data (remove risk and drive business value). The API allows supercharging existing remediation technologies by integrating them with the searchable index of organizational data.
What industry is Exonar in?
Exonar's product category is Data Discovery Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEABAK, Data Observability & Warehouse Monitoring. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7370.