Home > Latest News > Data Republic Secures Qantas, NAB, Westpac Investment

Data Republic Secures Qantas, NAB, Westpac Investment

Sydney-based start-up Data Republic has secured $10.5 million in funding from Qantas, National Australia Bank and Westpac, which it states will help underpin its expansion strategy in the US later in the year.

A $10.5 million Series A investment round has seen Qantas Loyalty, NAB’s venture capital fund, NAB Ventures, and Westpac’s Reinventure Fund become strategic equity partners.

Established in 2014, Data Republic’s technology provides companies, governments and not-for-profits with a secure platform for data exchange.

Data Republic states that its tech “offers a marketplace for data exchange between organisations who want to enrich their own customer insights”.

“With this important investor support, we can continue to help businesses unlock the value of their data and drive more relevant products and services, but in a way which prioritises customer privacy,” Data Republic co-founder and chief executive Paul McCarney commented.

“There’s enormous social and business productivity benefits to opening up data for exchange, but the privacy, security and rights of the consumer have to come first.”

Data Republic has partnered with Westpac “to develop the world’s first data banking service”, allowing corporate clients having obtained appropriate customer permissions “to securely separate and store customer information on dedicated bank-grade security infrastructure, while authorising broader data insights for analysis and exchange”.

“Given the increasing prevalence of data sharing between organisations, the creation of ‘banking infrastructure for data’ to enable it to flow as freely, with the same trust, security and privacy as money is critical to moving towards a data-driven economy,” Danny Gilligan, Westpac Reinventure co-founder, commented.

“Both Data Republic and the security which the data bank infrastructure offers are important innovations in this regard.”

NAB Ventures managing director Todd Forest stated that the strategic equity partnership provides “a seat at the table to help develop Data Republic’s capabilities and ultimately improve the experience for NAB customers in the future”.

“We know that banking is undergoing significant transformation in the digital space and the simple aim of NAB Ventures is to help ensure we can embrace the right changes to deliver new customer solutions,” Forest commented.

Qantas Loyalty CEO Lesley Grant stated that Qantas has “seen the benefit that customer-led innovation can provide to businesses and their customers”.

“Co-investing in Data Republic with NAB and Westpac provides a great opportunity for further innovation by allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of what our customers want,” Grant commented.

“We hold the privacy of our customers and their data with the highest respect, so the high level of governance and security that Data Republic applies is highly appealing.”



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