Consumer data startup raises $7.5 million in Series A

Queensland consumer data right startup Biza.io has raised $7.5 million in a Series A.

The round led by OIF Ventures and Jelix Ventures in the first raise for the Brisbane fintech after five years of bootstrapping.

Biza helps banks, financial institutions, energy retailers and others in the CDR space with Software-as-a-Service solutions for both data holders and recipients.

Founder and CEO Stuart Low, a previous head of innovation at Rabobank and CSIRO data engineer, kicked off the fintech in his Brisbane garage in 2017.

CDR began in Australia in July 2020 with what’s known as “open banking” and will turn its attention to energy in November this year, followed by telecommunications.

“Participating in the Consumer Data Right isn’t easy, and compliance is even harder, but we’ve proven that it can be done in a reasonable amount of time by a small team without costing millions of dollars,” he said.

Low said his fintech had experienced rapid growth as demand for its services continues to grow in the wake of the initial deadline for CDR compliance for banks by the end of FY2021, posting 550% customer growth in the past 18 months. Meanwhile the business has grown from two employees in January 2021 to 15 by June this year, with plans to hire another 30 people in 2022.

“Welcoming OIF Ventures and Jelix Ventures as our first investors puts us in a fantastic position to capitalise on the current market opportunities,” he said.

“Both funds’ reputations for backing high conviction founders and companies coupled with their unparalleled experience in nurturing founders and early-stage start-ups are going to be invaluable to our growth and we’re excited to begin the next phase of Biza.io alongside the OIF and Jelix teams.

“Biza customers have spent just 5% of typical build costs allowing them to invest in the innovation opportunities that the Consumer Data Right can truly enable.”

The startup’s customers include Unloan, Bank First, Regional Australia Bank, Australian Military Bank, TrueLayer, and Envestnet | Yodlee among a dozen brands now in CDR, alongside testing capability for more than 15 organisations as part of the open data rollout.

OIF Ventures general partner Laurence Schwartz said the Biza team have built a turn-key solution for enabling data holders.

“The CDR has the potential to reshape the consumer landscape in Australia and what one can imagine through CDR is very exciting for consumers, businesses and innovation alike,” he said.