October 2021 Summaries

Hex, an analytical data tool, has raised $16 million in Series A funding to expand its services and empower more Data teams. The company aims to create a collaborative data workspace that is accessible for users of all sophistication levels and technical backgrounds. Hex's partnership with dbt Labs allows teams to connect their dbt Cloud instance, enriching schemas in Hex with table metadata, freshness, and test status. This integration helps users quickly get the context they need on their data without juggling multiple apps and browser tabs.

Hex has announced a new integration and partnership with dbt Labs, allowing teams to connect Hex to their dbt Cloud instance and automatically enrich schemas in Hex with table metadata like freshness and test status. This enhances trust in data sources and reduces the need for analysts to run queries to verify data freshness. The integration aims to bring information from the metrics and transformation layers closer to the analytics layer while maintaining flexibility.

Hex 2.0 introduces a new reactive compute engine, transforming notebooks and data apps into DAGs (Directed Acyclic Graphs). This model allows for each cell to be executed based on upstream dependencies, improving reproducibility, performance, and interpretability. The literate programming paradigm remains, but with enhanced capabilities that make it more reliable and performant for everyone. Hex 2.0's new compute engine explores a future where data projects and apps can be built in a more accessible and scalable manner.