Australian startup Data Republic nets A$22 million funding in a round led by Singtel’s VC, Singapore Airlines buys a minority stake

An Australian tech startup just got an investment boost from two powerhouse Singapore companies. On Tuesday, tech startup Data Republic said it has raised A$22 million in a Series B funding round led by Singtel’s corporate venture capital (VC) arm Innov8.

In a filing on the Singapore Exchange, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said it has bought a minority stake in Data Republic through a placement of new shares. The deal was approved by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board, said SIA.

Data Republic is a two-year-old startup which provides technology services for organisations to share data on a secured and private platform. The startup’s platform Senate, helps firms protect privacy, provide audit trails, and ensure data security.

Other investors in the Series B funding round include venture capital fund Qualgro, ANZ, Reinventure, and Ryder Capital’s Ryder Innovation Fund.

Singtel's Innov8 invests and partners with startups globally. It has a fund size of US$250 million and has its own decision making, approval, and funding processes. According to startups database firm Crunchbase, the corporate VC arm of Singtel allows collaboration between the telco and startups as new firms can tap on the resources and expertise from Singtel and the telco gets access to emerging technologies.

SIA will be working with Data Republic and its partners from Singapore and Australia to provide organisations a platform to collaborate and innovate using the startup’s data sharing technology.

SIA has been enhancing its digital capabilities through a multi-phased programme and has seen “great progress so far,” the airline said.

Chief executive of Data Republic Paul McCarney said the support from two Singapore blue chips demonstrate the growing importance of privacy and the increasing global need for technology that can support secure, inter-organisational data sharing across markets.

Singtel shares dipped 0.32% or S$0.01 at S$3.08 while SIA shares gained 0.32% or S$0.03 at S$9.55, at 9.45am Singapore time.