Singapore Airlines has bought into Australian tech startup Data Republic as part of a $22 million raise

Sydney-based tech startup Data Republic has raised $22 million in Series B funding, predominantly from Singapore-based investors as the business seeks to push into Asia.

The raise, led by Innov8 - Singtel's corporate venture capital arm - also includes Singapore Airlines, VC fund Qualgro, an existing shareholder, with the ANZ, Reinventure and Ryder Capital also returning with more capital.

The two-year-old business, which offers a platform for inter-organisational data sharing, says it will use the funds to expand in Singapore, having opened an office there in June.

Co-founder Danny Gilligan said that as markets struggle with the regulatory trade-offs between privacy and innovation, Data Republic offers a solution that "delivers higher levels of data-driven innovation while increasing the privacy and security controls in data”.

Singapore Airlines senior VP of Information Technology George Wang said the airline was focused on how data can help them understand customer preferences, and thus took a minority stake in the tech startup.

The stake was acquired through a placement of new shares and has Australian Foreign Investment Review Board approval.

"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,” he said.

Data Republic’s governance platform, Senate, enables organisations to safely collaborate on shared data projects in a secured environment, using technology to protect privacy, provide audit trails and ensure data security.

Senate is now used by multiple major banks, governments, and the aviation, retail and media sectors in Australia, Singapore and the US.

Singapore Airlines says it will work with Data Republic and its partners from Singapore and Australia to provide organisations with a practical means to collaborate and innovate quickly.

Singtel Innov8 CEO Edgar Hardless said data intelligence offers a competitive advantage.

"Data sharing is increasingly recognised as a critical way for enterprises to extend their breadth and depth of market insights. Data Republic is helping to ensure that such data sharing is conducted in a safe, secure and compliant manner," he said.

"Innov8 is excited to support Data Republic’s ambition to expand into Singapore and beyond.”

The startup's co-founder and CEO Paul McCarney said the support of 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".