Iowa startup helps users convert data into “actionable intelligence”

Data collection is a must for any growing company. But even if you have ceiling-high piles of virtual documents, that hard-earned information is useless if it’s manifested in an unorganized mess. Ross Johnson and Anith Mathai, co-founders at Mazira, focus on cleaning that mess up. Using tools and processes they’ve built, Iowa City, Iowa-based Mazira…

Mazira helps users make sense of large collections of data, from social media postings to city documents.  

Data collection is a must for any growing company. But even if you have ceiling-high piles of virtual documents, that hard-earned information is useless if it’s manifested in an unorganized mess.

Ross Johnson and Anith Mathai, co-founders at Mazira, focus on cleaning that mess up. Using tools and processes they’ve built, Iowa City, Iowa-based Mazira helps businesses tap into the meat of their data, producing a greater, more digestible return on their info-gathering investments.

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“There are a lot of companies out there that have stacks of documents that they really can’t do anything with,” Mathai (left) said. “That’s because it takes forever to search through all of it.”

There are two kinds of data: unstructured and structured. Unstructured data includes things designed for human consumption like tweets, media files and the article you’re reading right now.

But structured data—things like Excel documents and SQL databases—gives users the flexibility to sort items, drill down to specific segments or easily search out the information they need.

Mazira aims to give structure to unstructured data. And by using optical character recognition (OCR) technology—the startup just released the code to the public—the team can convert almost anything into something searchable, measurable and actionable through its database.

“Once the data’s structured, it can give you a lot of data visualizations and feedback,” Johnson (right) said. “But to get it to that point where it’s structured and the computer can actually handle it, there aren’t a lot of companies that can do that.”

The co-founders met when Johnson was a junior at the University of Iowa and was developing a timeline-like site where he could store a visualization of his photos and life events.

His vision impressed Mathai. “Three or four years back, most of the websites you saw weren’t even responsive,” Mathai said. “So his site was actually a huge accomplishment.”

The two thought they could try to monetize the idea, and after writing a business plan and winning a few competitions, they had some seed money for the company along with proof of concept.

But when Facebook launched its similar timeline feature, they pivoted. Instead of focusing on the photo storage aspect, they pumped up the search capabilities and turned their attention to documents.

Now, with the help of a third co-founder and designer, Amanda Johnson, they’ve grown the team to seven members who serve five clients, with more deals in the works. Plus, as a proof of its technology, Mazira just launched a program that scrapes your email account and displays your documents on a timeline.

“There are so many companies out there that are sitting on piles of data, and if they can actually convert it into actionable intelligence they can get insights out of it,” Amanda said.

But every client is different. When the Mazira team signs a new company, the process starts with an information audit so they can better understand what types of data the company has and what the client wants to get out of the service.

Mazira then converts that data using its OCR technology, adds it to a searchable database and personalizes it with customizations. Pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis.

For example, Mazira recently started working with a law firm that had years of untapped data. As part of their setup, the team took old documents and made them searchable by case number and client name.

“It’s really easy to give [a client] a list of tools and software and say, ‘Here you go, figure it out,’” Mathai said. “But we try to make everything as customized as possible to answer the question that you’re really asking.”

That personalization is one thing that sets them apart from bigger database companies like Oracle and Infochimps. Mathai says those companies also focus more heavily on structured data, because “generally it’s a lot easier to handle.”

To date, Mazira hasn’t had to give up any equity in the company or solicit funding—the founders have been growing the business based on competition winnings and profits alone. But in the coming months, the trio is considering a startup accelerator and working to sign more companies.

“Right now it’s all about getting more clients and hopefully starting to build a productized version of the service,” Mathai said.

 

Credits: Photos courtesy of Mazira. 

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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