heyData’s Series A and the Power of Trusted Alumni Networks

Note: The following contributions are personal impulses from Max Eckel. They represent individual reflections and are intended to stimulate discussion and further thought.

200 companies from the same alumni network using the same compliance tool is… not normal. 

heyData just announced a $16.5m SeriesA, led by Riverside Acceleration Capital. They help companies deal with data protection and compliance without turning founders or operators into part-time lawyers. They combine software with human experts to handle things like GDPR, security requirements, and audits, so teams don’t end up managing critical trust topics in spreadsheets and email threads. It’s infrastructure work. When it works, nobody claps. When it fails, things get painful very fast.

When I talked with Miloš, one fact blew my mind: They already work with around 200 WHU-related companies. That’s a surprisingly high number when you remember that WHU has roughly 10,000 alumni in total...

At WHU, our biggest asset isn’t a building, a brand, or a ranking. It’s the community. The closeness. How easy it is to reach out. And how often people actually respond. That kind of network only works when trust is high. And trust, at scale, depends on very unsexy things being done right in the background.

The Series A now gives Daniel Deutsch, Miloš Djurdjević (both BSc 2024 / Alpha28), and the heyData team the chance to double down on exactly that: more automation, broader compliance coverage, and scaling this model across Europe.

Congrats to the whole heyData team. You’re building something most people only appreciate once it’s missing. And if a meaningful share of your own community chooses you to protect their trust, you’re clearly solving a very real problem.

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