Qonsent, a data privacy and consent platform founded by former WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal executive Jesse Redniss, said it raised $5 million in seed funding to develop and scale its operations.
The investors in Qonsent include Zekavat Investment Group, Gary Vaynerchuk, Michael Kassan, Tom Chavez, Crosscut Ventures, Brand New Matter, Marc DeBevoise and Lunch Partners.
Qonsent is designed to give consumers control over their personally identifiable information and make first-person consent easy to obtain and check by media companies and advertisers. Qonsent lets consumers understand how brands collect, use, and store their personal information and give consent based on a clear value exchange.
“Data privacy and ethics are the no. 1 priority going into 2022 from governments to brands and consumers. This is the most pressing topic on everyone’s minds, largely due to changing consumer behavior, but also due to new and upcoming regulations and laws,” said Redniss, the CEO and co-founder of Qonsent.
“We saw a real pain point between consumers and brands that has been eroding consumer trust and putting brands in a precarious position. Our goal is to empower every consumer to understand why, how, where, and when their data is being used as well as stored, while also giving brands a means to regain consumer trust and provide superior customer experiences,” Redniss said.
In addition to Redniss, Qonsent’s management includes president Stephano Kim, formerly of Warner Media, AT&T, and Springhouse Capital; CTO Will Lowry, formerly AT&T Mobility, chief legal counsel Seth Redniss (Jesse’s cousin) and chair Andrea Redniss, currently executive VP at MediaLink and Jesse’s wife.
The Qonsent product includes a back-end data privacy platform, white labeled consumer user interfaces and a consumer app.
The company has already signed partnerships with TransUnion and Ketch. ■
