Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Austin Ogilvy, Founder of Thoropass, a continuous compliance and audit management platform that's raised $98 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Origins of Thoropass: Austin shared how Thoropass was born out of his experiences with compliance challenges during his previous startup, Yhat, which was later acquired by Alteryx.
- Market Intersection: Thoropass sits at the intersection of GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), IT audit, and third-party vendor risk management, creating a unified platform for managing digital compliance.
- Co-Founders and Backgrounds: Austin teamed up with Sam and Eva, whose combined backgrounds in tech and cybersecurity governance at Citigroup created a strong foundation for Thoropass.
- Early Traction and Growth: Thoropass experienced rapid growth, achieving significant revenue milestones much faster than Austin's previous ventures, highlighting the importance of timing and market selection.
- Rebranding Challenges: The company underwent a significant rebranding from its original name, Laika, to Thoropass, which involved extensive logistical changes and was a crucial learning experience.
- Fundraising Insights: Austin emphasized the importance of storytelling in fundraising, ensuring a single, streamlined process for investors, and leveraging design and creative storytelling to communicate complex concepts effectively.