South African fintech start-up Omnisient has received   a $7.5 million investment from Arise, a company that invests in African financial service providers and fintechs that advance financial inclusion. 

Founded in December 2019, Omnisient is a privacy-preserving data collaboration and insights platform that allows the owners and users of consumer data to collaborate to extract commercial insights without compromising consumer privacy. The technology provides a controlled, secure environment in which data can be analysed. 

Omnisient’s innovative approach to preserving privacy while enabling retailers, financial services and healthcare firms to collaborate on consumer intelligence has earned numerous accolades, including ‘winner for social good’ (Fast Company), ‘most innovative financial inclusion tech of the year’ (Africa Bank 4.0 Summit), and top 200 game-changing start-ups (TechCrunch). Omnisient was also named as a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer. 

Expanding financial inclusion

The World Bank estimates that 1.7 billion people are excluded from formal financial services, limiting their access to housing, healthcare, education, and business capital. Omnisient’s platform protects 160 million consumer profiles and is helping millions of underserved individuals to qualify for loans, insurance and other financial services by using consumer shopping behaviour to aid credit risk assessments. 

The investment from Arise will support Omnisient’s plans to take its technology to markets in Africa, the UK, the USA and the Middle East. 

“Our mission is to create the world’s largest repository of alternative consumer data to grow financial inclusion,” said Jon Jacobson, co-founder of Omnisient. “The investment from Arise will enable us to expand and partner with larger data providers. This will allow banks and insurers to extend financial services to millions more people globally, driving financial inclusion on an unprecedented scale.”

“This investment aligns with our vision of using cutting edge fintechs to drive growth in Africa’s financial services sector,” said Gavin Tipper, CEO of Arise. “Omnisient’s technology will assist banks and data providers in identifying new customers, unlocking new revenue streams and will foster financial inclusion,” he added. 

This funding round (Series A) is still open. Omnisient is assessing strategic partners for the US market and the retail media space.