Sydney-based tech startup Data Republic has raised A$22 million (US$16.1 million) in Series B funding to accelerate its expansion in Asia.
The round was led by Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture arm of Singtel, Singapore’s leading communications technology group. Singapore Airlines came in as a new investor with a “minority stake.” Also participating in the round are existing shareholders Qualgro, ANZ, Reinventure and Ryder Innovation Fund.
Data Republic, established in 2014, said it would use the funds to accelerate its expansion in Singapore where it opened an office in June with Lynn Thompson as country manager. It also has an office in Los Angeles.
The startup also has investment from another airline – Qantas. The carrier was one of the three Australian companies, including National Australia Bank and Westpac, that participated in Data Republic’s first major funding round (Series A) in October last year that landed it A$10.5 million (US$7.6 million).
All smiles for a successful deal (L-R): Data Republic’s Danny Gilligan, Singtel Innov8 CEO Edgar Hardless, Data Republic’s Paul McCarney. (Image credit:Data Republic)
Data Republic’s governance platform, Senate, enables organisations to safely collaborate on shared data projects in a secured environment, leveraging technology to protect privacy, provide audit trails and ensure data security.
Senate is now used by multiple major banks, governments and other brands in the aviation, retail and media sectors across Australia, Singapore and the US.
Commenting on the latest funding Paul McCarney, Data Republic’s co-founder chief executive officer, said: “Gaining support from major Singaporean businesses like Singtel and Singapore Airlines demonstrates the growing importance of privacy and the increasing global need for technology which supports secure, inter-organisational data sharing across markets.”
Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8, added the company was “excited” to support the startup to expand into Singapore and beyond: “Data intelligence gives businesses a competitive advantage and data sharing is increasingly recognised as a critical way for enterprises to extend their breadth and depth of market insights.
Cybersecurity is now a major concern of the travel industry with recent privacy breaches, the latest affecting Marriott International that disclosed last week a major security incident which exposed the private details of 500 million customers in the Starwood Hotels and Resorts reservation system from 2014.
Data Republic’s co-founder Danny Gilligan reaffirmed that as global markets struggle with regulatory trade-offs between privacy and innovation, the company delivers higher levels of data driven innovation “while at the same time increasing the privacy and security controls in data.”
In a separate statement Singapore Airlines (SIA) described its stake in Data Republic, acquired through a placement of new shares, as “a move to further enhance its digital capabilities.”
SIA has introduced several digital initiatives. (Image credit of Premium Economy Class on the A350 aircraft: Singapore Airlines)
George Wang, the airline’s senior vice-president of information technology, said the carrier recognises the increasing importance of data in helping organisations better understand customers’ preferences.
“Our investment in Data Republic highlights our commitment to data innovation through a platform which leverages technology to ensure data security and privacy and further enhance our digital capabilities.”
SIA said it will work with Data Republic and its partners from Singapore and Australia “to provide organisations with a practical means to collaborate and innovate at speed.”
SIA has been enhancing its digital capabilities through several initiatives. In February it introduced KrisPay, a world-first blockchain-based digital wallet linked to its customer loyalty programme KrisFlyer. It has also released an API (application programme interface) suite to the developer community in October via the KrisConnect Programme, and plans to launch Krislab, a startup incubator.
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