Administrators seek to sell or recapitalise Data Republic

Administrators called in at big bank-backed financial data upstart Data Republic will look to sell or recapitalise the business.

Data Republic CEO Danny Gilligan. Source: Supplied

Administrators have been appointed to Data Republic after the financial data player collapsed on Thursday.

The open data player, which was backed by a bevy of big financial players, including ANZ Bank, Westpac, NAB Ventures, Singtel Innov8, Qualgro and Reinventure, is believed to have collapsed after it failed to secure a further funding round.

Data Republic will continue to trade while administrators McGrathNicol review the finances of the business.

McGrathNicol restructuring advisers will seek to recapitalise or sell the Sydney-based business.

Restructuring advisers Barry Kogan, Robert Smith, and Jonathan Henry were appointed as voluntary administrators.

The administrators will work closely to stabilise the operations of the business and “determine the appropriate strategy”.

“Data Republic’s suppliers are asked to ensure that they supply only in accordance with the circular to suppliers, available on the McGrathNicol website,” the administrators said in a statement.

The business, headed by Danny Gilligan and Paul McCarney, had been seeking to make headway in the rapidly-growing space of open data.

Data Republic’s Paul McCarney. Picture: AAP

Data Republic offered two flagship products, Data Sandbox and Data Fusion Studio, which offered capability to share customer data without identifying users.

The business had been seeking additional funding earlier this year. It was reported to be seeking up to $35m to fund its loss-making operations and accelerate development of its platforms.

It raised $10.5m in a 2016 funding round backed by NAB, Westpac and Qantas.

A meeting of creditors will be held on May 18.

Data Republic has been contacted for comment.