Rich Data Co (RDC), an AI-based credit risk decisioning firm based in Sydney, Australia, has raised AUD 28 million ($17.5 million) in a Series B funding round, powering its plans for a North American expansion.

The round was led by Australian heavyweight bank Westpac and cloud-based financial services platform nCino.

Funds management firm BMY Group, which previously helped the firm raise $15 million in June 2021, made a reinvestment in this round, and was joined by new entrant Octava Fund, which is based in Singapore.

RDC says it will use the fresh funding to further establishing its services in North America. Its platform enables banks to apply explainable AI (XAI) throughout their risk decisioning processes to gain comprehensive insights into borrowers’ behaviours.

The platform has previously partnered with both its leading investors, and has been applied to Westpac’s Australian business lending operations and nCino’s business and commercial lending operations.

“With this investment we are strengthening our relationship with Westpac and deepening our partnership with nCino,” says RDC CEO and co-founder, Ada Guan.

Having secured the investment in what she describes as “challenging fundraising conditions”, Guan says the firm can “get on with doing what we love to do and that is disrupt current lending approaches”.