IT Brief Australia - Technology news for CIOs & IT decision-makers
Story image
AI platform Rich Data Co raises $28 million in Series B funding
Thu, 30th Nov 2023

Despite challenging fundraising conditions, Rich Data Co (RDC), a leading AI decisioning platform, has successfully raised $28 million in its Series B funding round. The round was spearheaded by Westpac and global cloud banking leader nCino.

RDC, an Australian company, caters to banks, aiding them in making high-quality lending decisions efficiently and securely through its AI decisioning platform. Over the past year and a half, RDC has been extending its reach into North America, and the recently raised funds will boost this ongoing expansion.

Established in 2016, RDC utilises explainable AI to equip banks with a in-depth understanding of borrower behaviour, hence enabling more precise and efficient lending decisions for businesses. RDC has aided significant banks in Australia and New Zealand, notably Westpac's Australian business lending operations, in harnessing AI to accelerate lending coverage of their existing customers.

Throughout the past 18 months, RDC has been spreading its wings into North America, and in last year, secured a global resale agreement with nCino. This agreement empowers nCino's business and commercial lending customers to enrich the lending process with AI decisioning and greater intelligence.

RDC CEO and co-founder, Ada Guan, stated, "With this investment we are strengthening our relationship with Westpac and deepening our partnership with nCino. Securing such a significant amount of investment within challenging fundraising conditions, speaks to the opportunity that Rich Data Co's AI Decisioning Platform offers the industry, which is pleasingly being recognised by our investors. Now that the B round has closed, we can get on with doing what we love to do and that is disrupt current lending approaches and grow our industry leadership in the exciting AI Decisioning space. I am incredibly proud of our people and our growing team of industry and AI experts."

Shane Howell, Managing Director Business Lending, Westpac, voiced Westpac’s support for RDC, "Since January we have benefited from partnering with global innovator RDC, to enable faster decisions for customers by using RDC's decisioning tool and advanced analytic techniques, meaning cash is in our customers' hands quicker, particularly important in these economic times."

Highlighting the strategic partnership, Anthony Potts, Head of Strategic Investments, Westpac, added, "Westpac's investment in RDC reflects our strategy to pursue meaningful capability partnerships, investments and acquisitions. With the rapid evolution of AI, our strategic investment not only enhances our business lending offer but also allows us to stay close to global developments as RDC scales internationally."

nCino's EVP of Ecosystem and Strategic Growth, Davis Brannan, stated that the partnership with RDC helps his company innovate and enhance customer value more quickly. He also mentioned that the technology from RDC will assist elements of their nIQ and intelligence capabilities, which is why they are thrilled to solidify their affiliation with this investment.