CIA-Backed Fund Supports Stratify's TechnologyCIA-Backed Fund Supports Stratify's Technology

Stratify has given up one of the software industry's greatest company names--Purple Yogi--but a less-colorful moniker isn't hurting its ability to attract capital. It recently landed a fresh investment of $1 million to $5 million from In-Q-Tel, a venture fund backed by the CIA (see CIA connection below for why it isn't being more specific). The company's Stratify Discovery System classifies and manages unstructured data such as documents and E-mail, which are estimated to account for 85% of all data in the average company. Merrill Lynch projects that the market for unstructured-data management products will reach $4.6 billion within two years.

The company has raised more than $35 million in private equity since it was founded in 1999; investors include Intel Capital and Mobius Venture Capital. Stratify CEO Nimish Mehta says one of the company's clients is the CIA, which is using Stratify's software as the foundation for "an information-management platform to accelerate data acquisition and effectiveness."