According to GeekWire, Seattle-based data governance startup Codified is “winding down.” Founder and former CEO Yatharth Gupta shared the update but declined to give details. Gupta recently started a new job as a director of product management at Google in Kirkland, Washington. Codified was founded in 2023 and raised a $4 million seed round in February 2024, led by Madrona Venture Group and Vine Ventures. The startup’s backers included former Snowflake CEO Bob Muglia and former Microsoft VP JG Chirapurath. The company’s product used generative AI to let users create data access policies by writing them in plain English.
The Fast Fade
Here’s the thing that jumps out: this is a fast wind-down. They raised a $4 million seed round in February 2024. And by late 2024, the CEO is at Google and the company is done. That timeline is brutal. It suggests that despite the impressive pedigree of its founders and backers—Gupta spent 14 years at Microsoft on Azure data projects, and Bob Muglia invested—the product-market fit just wasn’t there fast enough. Or maybe the Google offer was too good to pass up. But when the founder bails for a corporate gig that quickly after a fundraise, it’s rarely a good sign for the startup’s momentum.
The Data Governance Problem
Codified was tackling a real and growing problem. As companies pour data into AI systems, figuring out who can access what and why becomes a nightmare of complex rules and legacy systems. Their solution was clever: use generative AI to let you write policies like “Only HR managers can view salary data” in plain English, and the system would translate and enforce that. Basically, they wanted to be an operating system for data governance. The challenge? That’s a deeply technical, backend-heavy sale into large enterprises. It’s not a quick win. You’re competing with entrenched players and internal tools, and sales cycles are long. For a tiny startup, that burn rate on a $4 million seed doesn’t last long while you wait for those enterprise deals to close.
The Bigger Picture
So what does this tell us? First, the “AI for X” startup landscape is getting ruthless. A smart idea and a great team aren’t enough; you need rapid traction. Second, data governance, while critical, might be a feature before it’s a massive standalone product. Big platforms like SingleStore (where Gupta previously worked), Snowflake, and the cloud hyperscalers are all baking governance into their core offerings. It’s a tough space for a startup to own end-to-end. And look, when your core technology involves managing secure access to critical data, trust is everything. Would you rather buy that from a well-funded startup, or from the established infrastructure vendor you’re already using? For many enterprises, the answer is the latter.
Where Does This Leave Things?
The winding down of Codified is a small but sharp data point in the broader market correction. Easy money for “AI-enabled” ideas has dried up. Investors now demand clear paths to revenue, not just technical promise. It’s also a reminder that in B2B enterprise tech, especially in foundational areas like data management, the barrier to entry is incredibly high. The team’s expertise will scatter—to Google, Codified’s site is still up for now, and other companies. The problem they were solving isn’t going away. If anything, it’s getting worse. But solving it might just be a job for the giants, not the startups.
