XML pioneer raises $10 million for data startup Docugami

For two decades, Jean Paoli worked to make Microsoft's products more standards- compliant, and along the way he helped create the XML format, a key standard for organizing data for consumption by many different platforms. Now, Paoli has raised $10 million for Docugami, a startup that aims to allow businesses to use XML to get a handle on their piles of unstructured data.

Why it matters: Only 15% of business data is stored in databases. "The rest is all this mess," Paoli told Axios.

Details: While others focus on so-called big data, Paoli says Docugami aims to let businesses make use of all their "small data." With as few as 30 files to go on, Paoli says, Docugami’s Microsoft Word plug-in can offer workers suggestions to help create new documents based on prior ones.

• The company is currently in a private beta with a number of companies.
• Paoli said the new funding, led by SignalFire, will be used to expand the 12-person team with further engineering capabilities, as well as begin sales and marketing efforts in preparation for a broad launch near the end of the year.

Also: Bob Muglia, former CEO of Snowflake and former head of both Microsoft's Office and Azure businesses, is investing and joining the company's board.