Opendatabay: Building a Global Data Marketplace from Beccles

From a small, bootstrapped start-up business in Beccles, Opendatabay has built a platform connecting organisations around the world with one of the most valuable resources powering today’s AI revolution: data. Led by founder Justinas Kairys (Justin), the business makes data easier to find, access and use, helping organisations develop and test the next generation of AI technologies.

Justin’s route into the business hasn’t been an obvious one. Originally from Lithuania, he came to the UK around 20 years ago to study computing at the University of East Anglia. But his early experience didn’t go to plan.

“I never finished because I failed programming,” he explains. “At that point, I thought this is not for me.”

After spending time working in a completely different industry, Justin decided to give it another go, this time teaching himself from scratch. What started as a small personal project, building a simple educational app for his daughter, became a turning point in his entrepreneurial journey.

“I thought, I’m going to try it myself. I started from scratch, figured out how to do it, and built an application. It worked, and I realised I could build similar things for other people. I could build applications; I could build websites.

“I started my software development business as a freelancer, helping companies build whatever they needed. Each client brought new challenges that I hadn’t seen before.”

From there, Justin began taking on increasingly complex projects, working with larger organisations and contributing to international initiatives, from supporting the development of a large-scale blockchain network to collaborating with global partners and public sector organisations.

Across those projects, one challenge kept coming up: access to data.

Developing and testing digital products depends on high-quality data, but getting hold of it was often slow, complex and expensive.

Justin explains: “With most of my clients, we always needed fictional test data to quickly see whether their product concept actually works. We call it quality assurance (QA) data. So in early phases of product development, we either had to buy this data from somewhere or generate it ourselves.

“Now you can generate or mimic test generate with large language models, but back in those days, we were getting it from data marketplaces. And being the most senior tech person, I was the one in charge of sourcing and later acquiring it.”

That recurring need and negotiation complexity became the inspiration for Opendatabay. Justin set out to build a platform that would simplify the process for others, making it as easy to find and access data as it is to shop online.

“I thought, I’m just going to build a data marketplace myself… something as simple as shopping on Amazon.”

Since its launch two years ago, Opendatabay has evolved into a platform that connects organisations needing data with those able to provide it, particularly in fast-growing areas like AI and machine learning. The platform helps organisations acquire and share data legally, securely and efficiently.

“The value proposition is we help AI companies to acquire data legally, and we help data providers to sell this data for those who are building or training AI” Justin explains.

The business has grown quickly. Despite still operating as an early start-up company, Justin is now working with organisations across the globe and managing significant volumes of data.

From its base in Suffolk, Opendatabay is supporting organisations developing everything from AI models to emerging technologies. It’s one of a growing number of digital businesses in the county proving that innovative technology companies with global reach can thrive right here in the East of England.