DataTrails is a technology company specializing in digital trust, data provenance, and transparency solutions for enterprises and data-driven applications. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, DataTrails provides a platform that enables organizations to instantly prove and verify the provenance and authenticity of data across business operations. The company’s mission is to establish a new model of digital trust by assuring the integrity of data as it moves across business and application boundaries, supporting compliance, risk management, and operational confidence in sectors like AI, supply chain, and media.
Leadership
Rusty Cumpston – Chairman & Chief Executive Officer: Brings expertise in IoT, cybersecurity, and digital identity.
Jon Geater – Co-founder & Chief Product Officer: Renowned for his work in cryptography, cybersecurity, and blockchain, with leadership roles at Thales e-Security, Trustonic, ARM, and nCipher. He is a board-level leader in open standards and co-chairs the IETF Supply Chain Integrity, Transparency and Trust (SCITT) working group.
Rob Desroches – Chief Revenue Officer: Extensive experience in B2B SaaS sales and revenue leadership at companies like DocuSign, Autonomy, and Prime Trust.
John Hartley – VP Engineering: Over 20 years in secure software development, with a background at nCipher and Thales, focusing on chip-to-cloud security.
Core Technologies
Immutable Audit Trails: DataTrails provides tamper-proof, cryptographically verifiable records of data events, enabling organizations to prove “who did what when” for any asset or data type.
Transparency Ledger: The platform maintains a transparency ledger that supports IETF SCITT standards, ensuring verifiable, chronological sequences of activities for chain-of-custody and compliance needs.
Provenance-as-a-Service: Offers authenticated provenance for documents, images, AI models, and physical assets, ensuring traceability and compliance with IT controls, corporate policies, and regulations.
API-First Integration: DataTrails’ API enables seamless integration with enterprise workflows, supporting responsible AI, supply chain traceability, and media verification.
Metadata Governance: Fine-grained access controls and compliance policies allow organizations to set, enforce, and monitor data sharing and provenance metadata in real time.
Key Capabilities
Instant verification of data provenance and authenticity
Tamper-evident, immutable audit trails for regulatory compliance
Chain-of-custody solutions for supply chain oversight
Media verification and protection against fraud or misattribution
Responsible AI enablement through verifiable data and model provenance
Real-time vulnerability alerts and continuous accountability for shared assets
Investors
DataTrails (formerly RKVST) is a privately held company.
The company has raised $7.5 million in total funding, with its most recent round being Series A.
No public information is available regarding company valuation.
Notable Clients
DataTrails serves clients in sectors requiring robust data provenance and integrity, such as:
AI development and responsible AI governance platforms (e.g., Daiki, FairNow)
Supply chain and logistics organizations
Media companies focused on content authenticity and protection
Partnerships with AI governance platforms like Daiki and FairNow highlight DataTrails’ role in enabling compliance with regulations such as the EU AI Act and providing tamper-proof record-keeping for AI risk management and transparency.
