Aussie start-up Data Zoo heads for US as revenue soars

The Sydney-based start-up, which claims it was the first business outside of China to access the country’s national ID base, is heading to New York.

Demand for Asia Pacific data has propelled a Sydney start-up into the US and surrounding markets as international companies increasingly seek access to regional verification services.

The digital identity start-up Data Zoo has set its sights on the US as it looks to expand after recording a 321 per cent jump in annual revenue.

The business has long flown under the radar operating in the back-end of the verification market, working with banks and other financial institutions.

After securing a deal with international currency transfer service MoneyGram and landing a number of awards including being named in the Deloitte Tech Fast 50 List two years in a row, the start-up has begun to gain ground in a growing market.

About 70 per cent of revenue in the last financial year came from outside of Australia, and 50 per cent of that came from US companies.

The verification provider, which was founded around 10 years ago by Tony Fitzgibbon, is looking to fill three new roles in its new office in New York.

Late last year, the business appointed Ravi Bijlani as its North America president. Mr Bijlani, who has worked at Prove Identity and Equifax, will lead the US team which is hiring a solutions engineer, a business development manager and a sales manager.

About 12 months ago, Data Zoo had just 10 staff but has since grown to 80, 45 of whom work out of offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The other 35 work out of Singapore, the Philippines, Colombo, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Europe and America and allow the business to run a 24-hour per day service, five days per week.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who serves as chief executive, said the business’ early focus on data gathering in Asia has helped it evolve into other markets.

“Initially, I focused on the Asia Pacific and getting data from as many countries and data sources within the region,” he said.

“About 60 per cent of the world’s population is in the APAC region. A lot of companies that engage with Data Zoo want to access that data, and that’s what has allowed us to expand into Europe and America.”

Six years ago, the business was the first outside of China to get access to the country’s national ID database.

“That really put a line in the sand, that was a defining moment where I knew that we had a business that was not just Australian but a global business,” he said.

Data Zoo works in the provision of data as well as verification. Mr Fitzgibbon explains that when an overseas bank collects personal information about a consumer when they attempt to purchase a service, that bank would then take the data to a provider like Data Zoo to verify it.

“Whenever you open an account with a financial institution, your information needs to be verified and that’s a global service we offer,” he said.

“There are various rules regarding how you match someone’s name and address, and the data sources you go to need to be reliable and independent.”

Mr Fitzgibbon said verification was costly when completed in-house for businesses, and they needed to work with providers with the highest data match rates.

“While we are an Australian business, we are a global operation, and we beat any other business in our match rates and being able to verify people and help them on-board their customers on their behalf,” he said.

The business has not yet revealed its valuation, but said it was in talks with investors and would reveal the value once a deal had been struck.

No other financial figures for 2022 were available.

Originally published as Aussie start-up Data Zoo heads for US as revenue soars