DATA & ANALYTICS

The disruptive forces of technology and legislation are forcing banks to become open and collaborative, things which they historically found challenging. Read more: www.bankingtech.com

Australian bank Westpac is making use of its investment in DataRepublic, with the launch of a new service allowing corporate clients to store and exchange anonymised customer data.

SigOpt, a research optimisation and machine learning startup, has raised $6.6m in a Series A round led by Silicon Valley heavy weight Andreessen Horowitz.

Last year at Sibos, Andy Hirst from SAP talked in depth about some of the key learnings from Big Data projects. At the time, the industry was still getting to grips with the era of data. Read more: www.finextra.com

LaunchLab in partnership with Nedbank has kicked off their Fintech big data Challenge and are seeking for innovative FinTech entrepreneurs. Read more: ventureburn.com

Smart data cuts through the noise of big data and finds information that provides real value instead of wasting time distracting data. Read more: tech.co

FinTecSystems, a Munich-based provider of real-time financial data, has closed a Series A round.

One of the 14 Australian FinTechs chosen last month for KPMG's new accelerator mLabs has formed a strategic alliance with another data-based startup. Read more: www.businessinsider.com.au

Data analytics provider Tableau Software reported second quarter earnings after the bell today. The Seattle-based company posted a loss due to higher than expected. Read more: techcrunch.com

Privacy-enhancing software company Privitar has landed £3m in a round from Illuminate Financial Management, with follow-up funding from existing investors. Read more: techcitynews.com