Omnisient awarded as 2023 Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

Omnisient, the South African data analytics fintech that is accelerating financial inclusion by helping millions of people with no credit history get access to affordable credit, was selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum's "Technology Pioneers".

Omnisient has developed a privacy-preserving process for banks to access new sources of consumer data for determining credit worthiness of individuals with no credit history. Omnsient is revolutionising the way organisations discover and monetise data for financial inclusion by protecting consumer privacy and removing the risks and challenges commonly associated with sharing consumer information.

The World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers are early-stage companies that are at the forefront of new technologies and innovation and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society.

“We’re excited to welcome Omnisient to our 2023 cohort of technology pioneers,” said Verena Kuhn, head of innovator communities at the World Economic Forum. “Omnisient and its fellow pioneers are at the forefront of innovation and disruption needed to help us solve the world's most pressing issues. We look forward to their contribution to the Forum's content work that brings together public and private sector to tackle these global issues."

As a Technology Pioneer, Omnisient CEO Jon Jacobson will be invited to engage with the World Economic Forum, working with global leaders to help address key industry and societal issues. Technology Pioneers will also be invited to join Forum events and discussions throughout the year, bringing together leading stakeholders from the public and private sector.

“Our platform has already enabled banks in South Africa to access anonymised shopper behaviour data from a leading retailer and thereby helped millions of people obtain a “good risk” credit rating who would have previously been denied credit due to their lack of credit history,” said Jacobson. “We are excited to share what we’ve learned and achieved in our local market with members of the Forum’s Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems to enable similar financial inclusion breakthroughs in new markets and to find new ways of using data in a responsible and ethical manner to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.”

This year’s Technology Pioneer cohort includes startups from 31 economies, with a third led by a woman chief executive. China has the second highest representation with 12 Technology Pioneers, behind US with 29 companies.

More information on this year’s Technology Pioneers can be found here.

More information on past winners, information on the community and the application link can be found here.

About Omnisient

Over 1.7 billion people globally lack access to formal financial services that can unlock access to housing, education, healthcare and even capital to start a business due to their lack of a credit history.

Our technology is changing this. Omnisient's privacy-preserving Data Collaboration platform is revolutionising the way financial services institutions (FSIs) and businesses across diverse industries collaborate to discover new consumer information that they can use to predict behaviour such as loan repayment by removing the risks and challenges commonly associated with sharing consumer information, such as fines, penalties and reputational damage caused by data breach, loss of company IP, and contravention of global privacy regulations. To date, in collaboration with our clients, we have enabled 8 million credit invisible individuals in South Africa to be scored for credit risk, out of which 3.2 million have already been identified as having a "good risk" credit score and can potentially gain access to affordable, life-changing credit that can provide them with opportunities for upward mobility and financial security.

Established in South Africa in 2019, we are enabling over 80 leading banks, insurers, retailers, and health & wellness organisations in Africa and the Middle East to build collective knowledge on consumers that can be used to better understand and predict their consumers’ and prospects’ behaviour to drive positive change for individuals, for businesses, and for society.

About World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).

About the Technology Pioneers

Launched in 2000, the Technology Pioneer community is composed of early-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society. The World Economic Forum provides the community with a platform to engage with public and private sector leaders and to contribute new solutions to overcome the current crisis and build future resiliency.

The Technology Pioneers community is part of the Innovator Communities within the Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Innovator Communities convene the world's leading global startups across different growth stages from early-stage Technology Pioneers to growth-stage Global Innovators and unicorn companies valued at more than $1 billion.