East Africa

Silicon Savannah beckons for exporters keen to capitalise on East Africa growth

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Lisa Kallback, a trade representative for Kenya at Enterprise Ireland, describes exciting opportunities heating up for Irish exporters in East Africa.

The Rift Valley in East Africa is generally thought to be the area in which modern humans first appeared. Fast forward 200,000 years and this Cradle of Humankind has been reborn economically.

Three of the top 10 fastest-growing economies in the world in 2017 were located in East Africa. The African Development Bank (AfDB) has forecast growth of 5.9% in the region this year and 6.1% in 2019, with Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda all reporting GDP growth in excess of 5%.

Why East Africa is on the radar of Irish exporters

Trade between Ireland and Africa is also on the rise, forecast to reach €24 billion by 2020. In 2018, as in every year since 2012, East Africa will be the continent’s fastest-growing region.

It is little wonder then that the region’s burgeoning middle class, estimated to comprise about 10-15% of its 430 million-strong population, is on the radar for exporters.

While agriculture is an area in which many Irish companies have enjoyed success, opportunities also abound in other high-value sectors, such as healthcare, fintech, and ICT.

Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, is at the heart of East Africa’s transformation. Indeed, its reputation as an ICT hub has earned Kenya the moniker Silicon Savanah.

 

Opportunities in the Silicon Savanah

Mobile money technology was pioneered in Kenya. The electronic wallet service – which allows users to store, send, and receive money using their mobile phone – has transformed how many Africans receive their pay and spend funds. The service is actively used by an estimated 66% of all adults in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Dublin-based provider Oxygen 8 offers mobile payment solutions through their Tola subsidiaries in Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda, as well as Ghana in West Africa. Group CTO Shay Hamilton explains, “The economies in East Africa are growing quickly. Of course, some will be coming from a low base but the emerging middle class means there are more opportunities to come and sell, particularly in the digital space, due to the prevalence of tolled mobile infrastructure, coupled with the mobile payments services.”

Key advice for Small and Medium Enterprises looking to break into East African markets is to ensure you have a strong local partner.

Ruth Barnes is Director of Commercial Operations at Vitro Software, which provides medical records software to the fast-growing private health sector. She says, “We have a partner in Kenya and work very closely with them. But even when you have a partner, it’s hugely important to make the trips and be on the ground there. They are an extremely warm and affectionate people. The relationship is all important and you need to invest time in building those relationships first of all.

Pricing is another issue that Vitro has focused on. “African people are very tech savvy. They’re open to innovation but price has to be achievable because, while growth in East Africa is strong, they are still developing countries. If you’re willing to be a bit flexible in terms of your model and pricing, there are opportunities.

Peter McEntee, of telecoms software provider Nasc Technologies, draws parallels between opportunities in East Africa today and those in Ireland in the 1990s. “A lot of the telecoms software we started out doing was suited to helping telecoms companies in developing countries, and specifically, to Africa. We’ve since developed a range of software for fibre deployments as well, and there is a lot of fibre deployment happening in East Africa, similar to Ireland in the 1990s when the market opened up and new players came in.”

The modern reality of East Africa is much changed from the West’s image of the region in the late twentieth century.

Enterprise Ireland can help exporters with an eye on the savvy Silicon Savannah to identify sectors and opportunities, make introductions to potential partners and buyers, and advise on important procedures, market entry barriers and license requirements. For more information contact Lisa.Kallback@enterprise-ireland.com.

 

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

Salaso CEO Aoife ni Mhuiri

Salaso: Using market research to hone your growth strategy

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Salaso CEO Aoife ni Mhuiri

Market research is important at every stage of building a business, not just when you’re exploring new markets and verticals. For Aoife Ní Mhuirí and Salaso, market research was vital when their precision exercise digital platform was inundated with requests from new customers over the last 12 months – and this is where Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre proved so useful.

“The last year has been an absolute gamechanger in terms of digital health, we experienced a large increase in inbound customer queries because we had the digital platform to deliver to patients under COVID restrictions.” explains Salaso CEO Aoife Ní Mhuirí

“As a small company, we had to focus on the right opportunities and we found the Market Research Centre particularly useful in understanding these customers. More strategically it is has helped us hone our market expansion strategy in the US.”

 

The growth of digital health

In business for 10 years, Salaso is a well-established digital platform designed for health professionals to make precision exercise prescriptions easily accessible for patients. The idea was born out of Aoife’s experience as a working chartered physiotherapist and her interest in e-learning and digital technology.

“I did the Endeavour Programme back in 2011 at the Institute of Technology in Tralee (now Munster Technological University), and that was essentially the start of Salaso. The company’s aim was to use technology and multimedia to make exercise a core part of healthcare and this led to the development of the Salaso platform . Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, primary care therapists, nurses, physicians and so on can use the infrastructure to engage their patients in exercise and physical activity programmes in order to  improve outcomes both for the patient and the clinic, hospital or practice.”

The platform can be used in countless scenarios, as Aoife explains. “It’s really for every patient; one of our clients in the US said that our infrastructure will benefit every person coming through their doors – and that’s true. No matter who you are or what you do, there’s always an exercise programme that can benefit your health and wellbeing – whether you have breast cancer, you’re recovering from a stroke, you have a pain in your back, you want to play sport and need to recover from a hamstring strain, there’s always an exercise programme for you.”

“We like to think of ourselves as pioneers in precision exercise, delivering the smart infrastructure that allows practitioners select and guide the patient in choosing the right exercise, at the right time and in the amount of time the patient has to engage in exercise.”

 

US growth ambitions

Headquartered in Kerry with offices in the UK and the US, Salaso is going from strength to strength. “There are huge opportunities for our platform in the US due to the direction that healthcare is taking over there – it’s very much about keeping people out of hospitals and surgeries, and that’s what our platform feeds into. We have an office on the East Coast and also in Nevada, working to target the value-based care market on the West Coast.”

That opportunity has grown even more due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as Aoife explains. “The pandemic changed the delivery and the consumption of healthcare forever, which is a good thing for many people, as there’s easier access to the care that they need – because the technology is  available and the infrastructure is there in the hospitals. The behaviour has changed too, now that digital healthcare is accessible. Think of someone who’s had a stroke or suffers from Parkinson’s disease who needs to access care or follow-up physiotherapy – before they would have been reliant on someone driving them there, maybe a son or daughter who has to take time off work, now they can access the care they need from the comfort of their own home.”

This, coupled with the fact that patients are becoming more educated about the many different forms of healthcare, has resulted in Salaso becoming a much sought-after platform.

“More patients are also now more involved and informed about their options; if there’s an exercise programme that might help postpone a surgery or improve recovery, then they want to know about it.”

“All of the evidence shows that if you engage with prehabilitation before surgery, the outcomes post-surgery are better. Even if you look at an area like cancer, exercise not only improves quality of life but it can also have a positive effect on survivorship.”

As Salaso grew, so did its need for market research; as Enterprise Ireland clients, the company was able to avail of the Market Research Centre to help them recognise opportunities and understand new markets. “We used the Market Research Centre for accessing a lot of the reports for the overseas markets, the US in particular,” Aoife explains.

“The centre was very useful for segmenting the industry, as well as identifying the possible leads that we could go after. It also helped us in understanding the market in the US, how reimbursement worked, and what has changed in the last 12 months. ” says Aoife

“The centre was very useful for segmenting the industry, as well as identifying the possible leads that we could go after. It also helped us in understanding the market in the US, how reimbursement worked, and what has changed in the last 12 months. For instance, a year ago, tele-health wasn’t reimbursed, but during the pandemic, reimbursement for tele health was brought in temporarily, and now it appears to be here for the long-haul. Getting information on topics like this is so useful when navigating a complicated market like the US healthcare market.”

The pandemic has accelerated Salaso’s growth as a company but expanding too fast can have its pitfalls too – and again, the data provided by the Market Research Centre can be invaluable. “There’s great opportunity for us to expand right now but we’re still an SME with limited resources, so knowing the best use of those resources is critical for the future of the company. And that’s where market research really comes in for a company like us.”

Learn how Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre can support your company’s export ambitions.

Diversity in Blockchain

Diversity key to blockchain success

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Some of the most senior figures in Irish blockchain are succeeding, not despite moving from a tech background but because of it, delegates at the Blockchain for Finance Conference heard.

Co-author of the recent Government discussion paper on the subject of blockchain, Mai Santamaria spoke at a ‘lunch and learn’ panel discussion about her background as a native of Barcelona who studied and qualified as an accountant. She worked for a number of banks and insurance companies before joining the Department of Finance over 18 months ago as a senior financial advisor.

Canadian Coral Movasseli is managing director of Girls in Tech Dublin, a global not-for-profit that runs a number of programmes designed to encourage more women to enter the tech sector. She previously worked for the Canadian government’s foreign office, as well as in telecoms and banking before coming to Ireland to work as a professional services consultant.

Laura Clifford, industry partnership manger at the ADAPT Centre based at Trinity College Dublin, told the audience how she had studied biology at university and how this led to work in the medtech and subsequently the tech sectors. She now drives fintech collaboration at ADAPT, acting as the broker bringing industry and academia together to commercialise academic research.

 

Great opportunities in blockchain today

“One of the reasons I’m focused on blockchain is because of the opportunity it represents for bigger things and further collaboration,” said Clifford, who, along with others on the panel, co-created Blockchain Women Ireland, an initiative designed to encourage women to participate in this still nascent but fast-growing sector.

Fellow panellist Emma Walker, who is managing director of Wachsman, a dedicated professional services firm for the blockchain sector, spoke of her background as a Spanish and sociology graduate. The opportunity she was given, at age 25, to set up the European office of what at the time, three years ago, was a two-person operation based in New York, gives some indication of the opportunities that exist in blockchain, she said. Today the company employs 120 people globally.

Speaker Luana Cavalcanti is a UX/UI designer at TradeIX, a blockchain technology company who started out in the hospitality sector working on cruise ships. She changed careers three years ago by retraining first in localisation and has progressed rapidly, thanks in part, she said, to mentoring she received by other women in tech.

 

Careers for professionals of all backgrounds in blockchain

People from all backgrounds are required in the fast-growing blockchain sector, and not just as technologists, but as people who can best communicate the use cases to a wide audience, delegates heard. 

“Blockchain is fragmented and, as it is emerging, questions are arising in relation to regulation, to interoperability with legacy systems, to transitions and how to manage them,” said Clifford.

It requires people with change management experience, who have transitioned initiatives before, as much as it does financial experts and tech experts, she said. “That’s why I got involved in Women in Blockchain,” she told delegates. “As you can see from the panel, not one of us has taken a linear path into the blockchain realm. It’s a very enjoyable space and I wanted to be part of that journey.”

The ‘penny drop’ moment came for her in relation to blockchain while attending an earlier conference, where a speaker called blockchain the ‘TCPIP’ of our day.

Realising that cryptocurrencies are simply to blockchain what email is to internet, “I thought, here’s an opportunity for me to be part of something and not feel like an imposter. It’s emerging. The barriers to entry aren’t there and I don’t have to try and retrofit myself into it,” she said.

Blockchain represents a paradigm change, said Movasseli, and as such it requires a diverse set of skills to drive it forward commercially.

To succeed, it requires diversity around more than gender, said Santamaria. “If you’re the kind of person that is driven by learning something new every day, you can’t go wrong with blockchain because you don’t stop learning,” she said.

It also offers a clear sense of purpose. “It really does feel there is a wider purpose to the blockchain project because it is all about collaborating to actually improve things.”

 

Enjoyed this article? Read more fintech insights here.

XOCEAN marine vessel gathering data

XOCEAN fills ocean data deficit with unmanned robot fleet

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In his previous life, James Ives was a customer of ocean data – but not a particularly satisfied one. As head of a marine energy company for more than 10 years, Ives relied on high-quality, accurate ocean data but found the process of getting that information both time-consuming and expensive.

“There is huge growth in the marine sector and the foundation of that growth is data. As a customer,” he says, “I thought there had to be a better way.”

Ives, who comes from an engineering background, decided his hunch was worth following. Last year, with the help of Enterprise Ireland, he set up his own ocean data services company: XOCEAN.

Based in Carlingford, Co. Louth, the company offers a range of turnkey data collection services for industrial, environmental and other commercial interests including data harvesting, fish stock monitoring, hydrographic surveys, environmental analysis and met ocean data.

“The big difference between XOCEAN and most other ocean data service providers is that we use marine robots known as Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs),” says Ives. “This approach offers three major advantages. First, it’s safer, as no humans have to go offshore. Second, it’s more efficient as our USVs can operate and collect data non-stop, 24/7. And thirdly, it’s around one-third the cost of conventional methods.”

The company’s XO-450 model looks like a miniature catamaran. It’s about the same size as an average car (but around half the weight) with a solar hybrid power system that provides a range of around 1,500 nautical miles, operating continuously for up to 18 days at a time. The system includes a wave-piercing hull design to ensure stability for a payload of up to 100kg of sensors and other equipment necessary for commercial ocean data capture.

 

XOCEAN’s journey to commercialisation

XOCEAN began with a planning and innovation stage, followed by building and testing the prototypes. According to founder Ives, the company is now transitioning into phase three, which is commercialisation of the product.

“At the moment we’re focused on industrial users including companies in the oil and gas sector and government agencies responsible for monitoring fisheries and the environment,” he says. “Our sweet spot is the continental shelf region where most ocean-based economic activity takes place, for example offshore wind farm developments.”

“We’re in discussion with some very large companies and there is a lot of excitement in the market, so things look bright,” he says. “Clients have told us that we’re just what the market needs, which is great to hear.”

The XOCEAN story took off when the company was taken into the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) portfolio at Enterprise Ireland.

 

How XOCEAN was supported by Enterprise Ireland

“The funding is the obvious one but where Enterprise Ireland really adds value is in the expertise and experience they offer,” says James Ives. “When you go to them first with your idea, they really ask questions and challenge your business plan – it’s such an important and valuable way of knowing if the plan is viable. After that, if the potential is there, you have access to their support and that can make a difference for start-ups.

“Our decision to base the company in Ireland was a conscious one, and it was facilitated in no small way by Enterprise Ireland’s support,” he adds. “They are also great at opening doors and providing introductions, which has been a massive help in gaining traction in markets like Canada and the UK.”

XOCEAN’s successful start, he adds, is down to his “fantastically talented” team – and an urgent need for more and better-quality ocean data.

“According to the OECD, the ocean economy has the potential to double in value to $3 trillion by 2030,” says Ives. “So, the potential is vast but it’s all underpinned by a need for sensible development and that is dependent on a supply of high-quality, accurate information. More data leads to better decisions and that is crucial to the development of the marine environment.”

As an example of how the company works, in summer 2018, XOCEAN partnered with Ireland’s Marine Institute to collect data as part of the management of Irish fish stock resources. “The USV travelled 100 nautical miles out into the Celtic Sea and performed an acoustic survey that generated 110 gigabytes of high-quality data,” says Ives. “That information is now being used to provide a better understanding of our fish stock levels.”

In October and November last year, XOCEAN successfully completed demonstrations of their USVs over the horizon bathymetric survey capability. Surveys were performed in Carlingford Lough and the Irish Sea, controlled over a satellite internet connection by a team of USV Pilots in XOCEAN’s Operations Centre. XOCEAN’s XO-450 was demonstrated to be a robust platform for multibeam echo sounder surveys.

With the company also exploring international markets, it’s interesting to note that all missions are managed from XOCEAN’s base in Carlingford. While the USVs are designed to be transported by road, they can also be packaged up with a bespoke trailer and shipped anywhere in the world.

“We’ve been well received everywhere we’ve gone,” Ives says. “I think the international market recognises that Ireland is a hub for technology and innovation. Irish companies have a great reputation for innovative thinking, for hard work, for being easy to work with.”

 

For more information, visit xocean.com.

 

 

US visas

US visas: Organising troops on the ground for your business

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The skills and experience of senior personnel are crucial to the success of a new operation in the United States. But before you start deploying manpower stateside, you will need to get your immigration visas in order.

US immigration laws are highly complex and change regularly, so specialised legal advice is an absolute necessity. What follows is a sketch of the various visa options available and the requirements each entails.

No visa

The Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) allows you to travel to the US without a visa for ‘limited business purposes’ but does not allow you to take up employment. The VWP is intended for short, infrequent trips, of no more than 90 days duration, and is good for visiting trade shows, attending conferences, and for preliminary market research and pre-investment activity.

If you cumulatively spend more than 50% of your time in the United States in one year, you will almost certainly be denied further entry under the VWP. If you are denied an Electronic System Travel Authorisation (ESTA) at any time for whatever reason, you will require a visa for all future travel to the United States.

To travel to the US under the VWP, you must apply online for an ESTA in advance. To obtain an ESTA authorisation, you must possess a return, or onward, travel ticket indicating that you are not planning on staying permanently.

B for basic

If you cannot avail of the VW programme, you will need a visitor visa. The B-1 visa is for temporary visitors on business and the B-2 visa is for tourists. B-1 visas for Irish citizens are usually valid for 10 years but only allow holders entry into the US for a maximum of six months. The same restrictions on business activity apply to B-1 holders as to those on the VW programme: you are not allowed to take up employment in the US.

A B-1 visa application will probably require an interview with an American embassy official, during which you will be asked to provide evidence of the purpose of your planned visit and of the ties you have in Ireland – economic, family and social – to ensure that you won’t ‘overstay’.

L for longer

If you are setting up a US operation, you will need to be in the United States for a substantial period of time, so one possible option is an L-visa.

An L-1A visa is for managers and executives who previously worked with a foreign company and are transferring to the United States to work, for at least one year, with a new subsidiary company, or an affiliate company, or an American parent company. L-1A visas can be extended for up to a maximum of seven years.

An L-1B visa is for employees with specialised knowledge (SK) of a foreign company’s business systems and processes. An L-1B visa allows a maximum stay, including extensions, of five years. Generally, L-1B visas are more suitable for established US companies than for foreign start-ups trying to get a foothold in the American market.

Before applying for an L visa at the US embassy in Dublin, you must first gain petition approval from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

E for easier

An E visa is for employees of foreign businesses in which the employee is a citizen of a country with which the US has a significant trade treaty. The employee must be entering the US to engage in ‘substantial international trade’ or to ‘develop and direct the operations of an enterprise that has, or is, investing in the United States’.

E visas are issued for a maximum of five years but, typically, for those employed by smaller organisations, they are usually granted for an initial two-year period, with renewals up to a maximum of five years at the discretion of the US Consulate.

The E-1 visa is for those who come from countries in which 50% or more of national trade is with the US, so it is not suitable for Irish citizens.

The E-2 visa is the closest thing to a ‘US start up visa’ for Irish entrepreneurs. E-2 applicants must be of the same nationality as the foreign entity that employs them and they must be engaged in an executive or supervisory capacity or have special qualifications essential to the enterprise.

There is a minimum investment requirement, usually at least US$100,000. E visa applications are more straightforward than L visa applications, with the process conducted at your local US consulate.

H for highly-skilled

H visas are for people who belong to speciality occupations. Applications must be approved by the US Department of Labour and petitioning companies must prove that the foreign employee will be paid a fair wage and will not displace US workers.

The H-1B visa is for highly-skilled workers who have a university degree or equivalent. A H-2B visa is for technical workers, such as employees posted to the US to install new machinery and teach Americans how to operate it. A H-3 is a training visa for employees availing of upskilling courses unavailable in their home country.

O for OMG

The O-1 visa is for individuals with extraordinary ability and/or achievement in the sciences, education, business, athletics, or the arts. The visa is initially granted for up to three years and can subsequently be extended for one year at a time, with no upper limit on the number of extensions that may be granted.

Another visa that applies to a small minority of applicants is the EB-5, which is for those who make substantial investments in the US economy, generally in excess of US$1 million.

Green for Go

Foreign nationals can be granted permanent residence, known as having a Green Card, based on continued employment in the US, or by showing you have a job offer.

Once you are granted a Green Card you are subject to US income tax assessment. Additionally, Green Card residents must maintain their status, for example, showing that they intend to be long-term residents of the US, although they may be temporarily resident elsewhere.

Employers may ‘sponsor’ a Green Card applicant by presenting evidence of a job offer. Often, applicants must already hold a temporary, unexpired visa, such as a B-1.

More information about the visa application process is available here.

The Irish-American law firm O’Brien & Associates runs regular updates on US visa requirements here.

winning contracts US

Negotiating the non-negotiables: Tips for winning contracts in the US

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In a David and Goliath business encounter, David stands a better chance of success if it is obvious that he is good at what he does, said Sally Hughes, CEO of the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM), speaking at this year’s E3 Entrepreneurship Export Exchange conference, organised by Enterprise Ireland and Global Situation Room.

 

IACCM is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising the value and integrity of trading relationships worldwide, working side-by-side with both buyers and suppliers and with both mega-corporations and SMEs.

In her presentation, Hughes covered three lists:

  • the most common terms included in standard US contracts
  • the most important terms included in US contracts
  • strategies that SMEs need to adopt when dealing with major corporations.

She also described an example of an unnamed SME owner who negotiated a life-changing deal with retail giant Walmart and discussed how Irish firms could follow their example.

 

Show you’re an expert in your field

“In an environment where one side has significant buying power, as a supplier you have to demonstrate great quality and value,” she says. “More importantly, you need to present yourself as an expert in your field.

“The one area where there will inevitably be negotiation is price but it’s critical not to get dragged down in those discussions early on. In fact, in the first few meetings you don’t want to be negotiating price at all. The key to meaningful negotiation, and to the effective management of risk, is to get to know the buyer well.”

In Hughes’s Walmart example, the successful SME supplier spent 18 months getting to understand the retail giant’s needs. Notably, when the supplier was offered a contract with Walmart’s non-negotiable conditions, his lawyer warned him that the terms were ‘too risky’ and could cause the collapse of his business but the supplier continued to negotiate a deal.

 

Negotiating contracts in the US

According to Hughes, the terms most commonly negotiated in standard contracts in the US include:

  • Limitations of liability
  • Indemnification
  • Price, charges and price changes
  • Termination of contract
  • Scope and specification
  • Warranty
  • Performance guarantees and undertakings
  • Payment terms
  • Data protection, security and cyber-security
  • Liquidated damages.

Indeed, the IACCM chief said that, very often in contract negotiations, the areas that partners battle over the most are not always the most important. Hughes advised that the most important contract terms to focus on are those that will contribute most to your success, largely:

  • Scope and goals
  • Responsibilities
  • Prices, charges and price changes
  • Service levels
  • Performance, guarantees, undertakings
  • Limitation of liability
  • Payment terms
  • Warranty
  • Product specification

In the Walmart case, the SME owner believed he had to be better than the competition at accepting and managing risk. As part of his deal with the retailer, he requested access to sales data so that he could assume responsibility for ensuring that his products moved off the shelf.

“Success depends on the quality of the information flow from buyer to seller,” said Hughes. “Transparency is key and is in both parties’ best interest. This is about a partnership, no matter what your relative side.”

 

Winning business in the US

If you want to win business from bigger customers than you have ever had before in the United States, Hughes advised following these strategies:

  • Be better than your competition at accepting and managing risk
  • Demonstrate your expertise and educate your buyer – before discussing price
  • Get the buyer emotionally involved in your product or service
  • Demand quality information flows between you and your customer
  • You might not be able to negotiate ‘boilerplate’ – the standard terms and conditions listed at the end of most contracts – but you can ensure you implement good governance through communication protocols and problem-solving techniques
  • Even if it seems like a David and Goliath scenario, it is about a partnership. Big buying power doesn’t have to mean big negotiation power – that is down to you.

“Selling in the US market takes planning and it takes persistence,” added Hughes. “You need to understand who you are selling to, what rules and procedures they’ll be following, how will they measure value and what weightings they’ll apply to selection criteria.

“You’ll also need to have developed a negotiation strategy, how you will convince them that you are a reliable supplier committed to the market, that you are an expert in your field, that you are passionate about your product or service and that you understand fully the nature of your competition. You need to educate your buyer.”

 

Read more on doing business in the US market.

Spearline Irish telecoms monitoring global brands

Spearline: Irish telecoms monitoring company delivers peace of mind to global brands

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Monitoring millions of calls across the world

Somewhere in South Korea a Mastercard client is attempting to call customer service to talk about their account – but they can’t. The call drops. If this continues the customer will become frustrated and unhappy.

They’re going to make one more call attempt before lodging a complaint.

More than 10,000 km across the Pacific in Saint Louis, Missouri, the dropped call has not gone unnoticed. In real time, Mastercard’s command centre has been alerted and reroutes calls to its contact centre via another carrier route. The next time the South Korean customer dials they go straight through on a perfect line.

 

Addressing a problem using Irish innovation

The complaint never comes. Mastercard’s brand equity remains unimpacted and the firm’s Vice President of Global Contact Centre Infrastructure Management, Tom Hinds, knows millions of similar calls are being monitored thanks to Spearline, an Irish telecoms firm based in Skibbereen, County Cork.

Spearline’s phone number monitoring software was adopted by Mastercard just over a year ago. It is soon to be rolled out to almost all of the Mastercard network, a network that spans 65 customer contact centres in 128 different countries.

For Hinds, the Spearline product has solved a problem companies like Mastercard, Amazon and other global footprint firms have encountered: finding out exactly where phone line degradation occurs so they can fix it.

Hinds says, “The peace of mind it gives me is tremendous. I’m not waiting for a phone call from some country’s president telling me that the level of service is not good because I’m aware of the service ahead of time. I know when the service is degraded, and I know when to move it so I don’t get those calls anymore.

“It’s a big win. You can’t put a dollar amount on that but it’s a big win.”

It’s not only a big win for Hinds but for 15 years of product development and testing, iteration, and refining for Spearline. The firm’s automated phone number testing software has required not only innovation but investment. Spearline can respond to the needs of Fortune 500 companies because it has sited its monitoring servers in more than 60 countries around the world, enabling it to deliver precise geo-located results, as well as real-time loss in quality of service.

 

Eolving for rapid global growth

Co-founded by university friends Matt Lawlor and Kevin Buckley, Spearline began by selling localised open source software for the Irish business telephony market. But it was the market disruption of the recession that catalysed Spearline to evolve and develop the innovative product that drove its rapid global growth.

Liam Dunne Chief Commercial Officer explains, “We realised that large multinational organisations really had no visibility on the performance nor uptime of telephone numbers across the globe.

“Companies had telephone numbers all over the world but they had no sense that, if an end user picked up the phone in a particular country, that the number was going to work. With global call center operations costing into the hundreds of millions to setup and run; the performance of a single phone number has the ability to crash the whole infrastructure, investment and waste hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single instance. A phone number not operation effectively can have a detrimental effect on a company’s brand.

“It was a complete blind spot for them.

“The only way to find out that it wasn’t working was when customer complaints racked up and the business was negatively affected through missed calls and lost sales.

“It was more than a blind spot, it was a real risk factor.”

 

Holding service providers to account

In addition to helping Mastercard deliver on its customer experience, Spearline’s automated phone number testing dashboard allows it to hold service providers to account with precise data on outages and loss of QOS.

Hinds adds, “It also holds our carriers accountable to service agreements. There wasn’t a reliable way of measuring that before. With this tool we can draw down reports and tell carriers on exactly what circuit or time of day poor quality of service was recorded.”

Spearline’s approach is working. Turnover has risen 70% for the past two years and the company now has more than 60 employees based in its Skibbereen HQ with a global sales office in Mooncoin, Kilkenny, plus other office locations in India and Romania. Its servers are used as test lines in 66 countries.

Impressing an experienced telecoms VP like Mastercard’s Hinds isn’t easy. But he admits Spearline has something special.

“It is a unique offering. Carriers do have an offering but none of the ones I’ve seen can measure from in-country, where the call is originating, to the country of destination, across multiple carrier hops.”

Spearline refuses to stand still. It projects further growth and increased demand for its new product that solves the headache of being GDPR compliant for firms. Another simple but sophisticated software solution.

 

Read more about the Irish companies using innovative products and services to sell into international markets.

Irish ambition winning in France

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Sinead Lonergan, Enterprise Ireland’s country manager for France, looks at the opportunities allowing Irish companies like Smurfit Kappa and Grant Engineering to win in this big market.

 Opportunity comes to pass not pause and right now it’s in France. That was the message from Terry McGivern, Chief Operating Officer of Smurfit Kappa in France and keynote speaker at Ambition France.

 The event was the first in a series of Enterprise Ireland workshops for Eurozone markets and a step towards creating a peer group of Irish companies selling into France.

 Ambition France provided seminars, presentations and panel discussions based on learnings from Irish companies already succeeding in France. Attendees included a highly targeted group of businesses keen to emulate that success. 

 

Why France should be your next export focus

France is the sixth biggest market in the world, with a GDP of €2.5 trillion and a population of 66 million. Delegates at Ambition France left with a sense of the opportunity that exists in a growing market in which consumer confidence is increasingly buoyed.

Part of the reason Enterprise Ireland is building this peer group is because we know that having a network of people willing to share successful commercial tactics helps to accelerate business success. 

With France, however, there is also an additional reason. A key recurring theme at Ambition France focused on how hugely relationship-based the market is and how challenging it can be to develop these relationships. Securing a referral helps enormously, which is why I’m keen to bring first time entrants together with seasoned campaigners.

Recruitment can also be a challenge. Niall Fay of Grant Engineering told of his company’s recent success securing experienced French staff to help open up the market. It was a significant advantage in a country in which having team members with established relationships is so important.

To overcome these challenges, Irish businesses need to make their value proposition clear and really sell the company to prospective employees. It’s worth doing, when local staff with a strong network of contacts can be a huge advantage in accessing potential customers.

We at Enterprise Ireland help too – opening doors, fostering links, and ensuring French buyers are aware that Ireland is a dynamic country with which to do business. We prepare the ground so that the companies we support are not met by outdated, but sometimes lingering, perceptions that Ireland is primarily agricultural.

 

Understanding French business culture

The best way to assess the market is to get out there, advised Shane Lyons of Ei Electronics, “Meet the customer, find out how they buy, and what they are interested in. Then develop a solution that suits them. Use Enterprise Ireland, use their contacts, get to exhibitions, and get a sense of where the market is going.”

It is more important than ever to do this. Brexit presents a huge opportunity for Irish companies to position themselves as alternative English-speaking suppliers.

To capitalise on this opportunity, however, you must be fully au fait with French business culture – or rather cultures. It is a country of huge regional variations, so acquaint yourself with local nuances.

Invest in linguistic skills. Andrew Fleury, CEO of Transpoco, told how his staff takes French lessons via Skype. “It makes it easier to do business and clients are very appreciative of it,” he said.

That’s for sure. I have seen very many deals scuppered by ignoring basic business etiquette. For example, Irish people almost by default go into a meeting shaking hands and chatting about the weather and their trip over. But if you are dealing with a large French company, that’s a faux pas.

Meetings here are much more formal.  Focus on the business, plan your presentation to the nth degree and demonstrate – with evidence – why you are the best supplier with the best product. Keep the chat for later.

It’s the kind of thing a peer would tell you and you’ll be glad they did, because right now, in France, opportunity is here for the taking.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

For more information on doing business in France download our Going Global Guide to France

Title - market research the key to Roomex's international success

Market Research: The key to Roomex’s international success

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TItle; Market Resarch the key to ROmmex's international success. Photo of CEO Gary Moroney

Knowing your customer is the first rule of success in business, but when you’re entering a new market or exploring a new sector, often the important data that you need is hard or expensive to obtain. Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre helps to solve this problem for its clients, by providing access to a wide range of reports containing company, sector, market and country data – basically the information you need when exploring opportunities in international markets.

This type of information is vital for every business, but especially for a growing company like Roomex, which specialises in workforce travel across the world. “Market research is really important for us,” says Roomex CEO Garry Moroney. “We use it in three ways – to understand the travel industry, the competitors, potential partners etc; then we use it to analyse our target customer base, companies within the different verticals, the size of the companies within the sector in a country, who the top companies are; then the third area is customer needs analysis. We have found Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre very useful for the first two areas.”

“We have over a thousand customers and it’s paramount for our sales process to know those customers. We have a lot of big customers but we also have a long tail of smaller customers; getting that data and lists of potential customers is so important to us.

“The Market Research Centre was invaluable in getting us that data, and the fact that they have the data for so many countries is also great.” Garry Moroney, Roomex CEO.

 

Working through emergency situations

Roomex is described as a business travel company, but it is actually quite different to the traditional corporate travel business as it specialises in the workforce travel market. Garry explains further: “We work mainly with industries like construction, engineering, and manufacturing with our customers ranging from some of the largest construction companies in the world with revenues in the billions, right down to smaller SMEs. Our top market is the UK. We’ve had a sales team operating in the UK for a few years now; we also established a sales presence in Germany in 2019, another very important market for us. We also have partners across the world, including South Africa, and we have users in about 20 countries.”

Because of its concentration on workforce travel, Roomex also escaped the worst of the effects of Covid-19 on its business. “Our travellers could be described more as blue collar workers, perhaps in the construction industry, who may be travelling as part of a project and perhaps to more rural areas. Our workers travel to build, to install, to inspect, to maintain – all those jobs that can’t be done without travelling. A lot of our travel is also domestic, so wouldn’t be as affected by travel restrictions. So we are lucky to be coming out of the pandemic in a relatively strong position and are back to about 100% operation.”

 

Big ambitions

Garry joined Roomex as CEO in September 2019; prior to this, he was founder and CEO of two successful start-ups, Similarity Systems and Clavis Insight, both of which were acquired after much success. Garry’s goal with Roomex was to take an already successful company to the next level. Having avoided the worst of the business downturn during the pandemic, Roomex is now in a position where Garry can start putting his ambitious plans into action – with the help of Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre.

“When the first lockdown happened, we went into emergency mode, then we were in recovery mode. Now we’re out of that so we’re back to invest and expand stage. We’re hiring new people, and hoping to develop our product according to our product roadmap and looking to expand into more markets.

“We started expanding in Germany in 2019 and continued at a reduced level during the pandemic, but now we want to invest more time, resources and people in the German market.” confirms Moroney

Similarly we want to expand into the US market, as it’s a really important market for us. In both of my previous companies, our success has been heavily built on what we achieved in the US – it’s a great market for Irish companies. Our goal is to become a global leader in workforce travel management.”

Having the support of Enterprise Ireland has been hugely important for every one of Garry’s businesses, especially as they expand into new markets. “Enterprise Ireland supported both Similarity Systems and Clavis Insight, and Roomex as well over the years in areas such as employment and R&D, and we’ve also found their overseas offices really useful when exploring new markets. Having the support of these country experts and access to the Market Research Centre is invaluable when looking at such huge potential markets as the US.”

Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre is an important resource for its clients with ambitions to expand into international markets. Learn more here.

DeviceAtlas makes sense of the world’s mobile traffic

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Irish start-up DeviceAtlas emerged from humble beginnings. It began life with four employees and a borrowed internet router, working out of a one-room office above a travel agent on Dublin’s Dawson Street.

The company may have started small but it had a big vision – and a steely belief that the world was going mobile. It may seem obvious now but back in the pre-iPhone days of 2006 nobody could tell how far mobile technology would go, and how fast the device population would grow.

DeviceAtlas knew what was coming. The company was formed as part of the dotMobi domain initiative, with a mission to take the pain out of device diversity. It was a tough sell in the beginning, not least because most companies had yet to experience that pain.

“That was probably the biggest bump we faced in those early days, a lack of belief that the technology would evolve to this point,” says DeviceAtlas CTO, Ronan Cremin. “Companies just didn’t believe that they’d need this sort of help.”

Becoming one of the world’s foremost providers of mobile device data

As the technology exploded, and devices began to proliferate, the vision started to make sense. “Of course, all the things people said would never happen have now happened, but the lack of faith was a big obstacle,” says Cremin. “We trusted in the vision though, we had complete belief in what we were doing and that made sure we never got knocked off our path.”

Today, DeviceAtlas is one of the world’s foremost providers of mobile device data. The company supplies detailed information about the nature and capabilities of connected devices – as of today, they cover more than 50,000 different devices – to give clients deep insights into their mobile traffic and usage patterns.

The company accumulates data from a global network of websites and apps that monitor traffic and identify devices that have not been seen before: some 50 to 60 new devices are launched every single day. It is exactly the scenario the company envisaged a decade ago, when they were knocking on doors.

“All connected devices have different characteristics and different capabilities so for any company trying to keep track of them all, it’s a headache – it’s messy,” says Martin Clancy, the company’s marketing chief. “Our mission is to recognise what each device is and what it can do, and in that way bring order to chaos for our clients.”

Growth has been smooth and steady over the past decade, but the company still acknowledges the foundational role played by Enterprise Ireland, which stepped in to provide funding for early-stage R&D  recruitment. “Thanks to Enterprise Ireland, we were able to hire the right people who could build the technology quickly, which was critical to our launch plan,” says Ronan Cremin.

“The funding was the obvious one but Enterprise Ireland also gave us lots of advice and guidance that was really helpful,” he says. “For example, when we were trying to break into the Chinese market they added heft to a lot of introductory meetings as well as giving us tips about adapting to the local culture. Small but invaluable things that made a difference.”

DeviceAtlas clients include more than twenty Fortune 100 companies

These days, DeviceAtlas needs little introduction. The company counts nearly a quarter of the Fortune 100 among its client roster – with companies such as Adobe, Amazon, AOL/Oath, Appnexus to take just the start of the alphabet – and estimates that its technology is used by “most of” the Fortune 1000 via its OEM customers. Incredibly, some 1 in 3 of all digital ads are underpinned by DeviceAtlas.

From four people, the DeviceAtlas team has grown to more than 50 – a rising total that includes an impressive 18 nationalities so far – serving customers in 56 countries worldwide. And as ever more devices populate the landscape – not just smartphones but game consoles, TVs, watches, speakers, anything connected – there appear to be no limits to what the future holds.

“The direction of our industry is clear – everything’s getting smaller,” says Ronan Cremin. “Mobile technology is sinking into the woodwork, if you like, it’s becoming invisible. One of these days, you might open your box of Cornflakes and find a free mobile connected device in with the cereal!

“I know it sounds far-fetched and we’ll have people telling us ‘It can’t be done’, just the same as they did when we were starting out,” he goes on. “But in this business you can’t rule anything out. There’s a line in the movie Jurassic Park that I always remember: life finds a way. Well, technology will find a way. And probably sooner than you think.”

Languages Connect logo

The importance of multilingualism

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The drive for new markets shines a light on the importance of multilingualism. Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland outlines why language matters.

Ireland’s small, open economy depends heavily on being able to trade internationally. The global dominance of the English language has worked to our advantage but with Irish companies looking to export into even more diverse markets, the need to acquire more languages has never been more important.

Recognising the cultural value of communicating in the buyer’s local language and developing a workforce with foreign language expertise can improve relationships and increase efficiency when entering new markets.

Learn how Enterprise Ireland can support your business with the Market Discovery Fund

 

Irish companies Branding US

How to brand for success in the USA

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Irish companies selling in the US market should use branding and marketing communications that are more direct and more Irish than they would use at home.

That was a key insight that emerged at the E3: ‘Entrepreneurship Export Exchange’ conference in Dublin, during a session on ‘Defining your brand and pitching your company in America’, led by Brett Bruen, President of Global Situation Room, and Gina London, a former CNN correspondent turned communications consultant.

Straight talking

“What works well in Ireland, the UK, or the rest of Europe, does not necessarily lead to success in the American market,” advised Bruen, a former US diplomat, who served at the White House as a director of global engagement in charge of public diplomacy, international media, and crisis communications.

“Many Irish firms that work with Global Situation Room have an understated quality to their marketing communications that is not as well received in the United States as it is here,” he said.

“In the US, you need to emphasise why you are the best.  It’s not just about your technology. You need to tell the story of your company and explain why it is passionate about its products.”

Playing the green card

One of Bruen’s key insights is that Irish companies should take full advantage of their national identity, and the ways in which Ireland and the Irish are viewed so positively in the USA.

“Whether you are selling soap or solar panels, Enterprise Ireland-backed companies really should wrap themselves in the Irish flag,” he advised. “In the US, Irish identity is associated with a level of honesty. US Americans, no matter what their own ethnic background might be, have an affinity with what they believe the Irish represent.

“That means, for example, that you should say that you are an Irish company in your PowerPoint presentations, and should also explicitly say so on your website.”

Bruen’s firm, Global Situation Room, were co-sponsors of the conference with Enterprise Ireland. He advised attendees that strong, relevant website content was a crucial element of branding and marketing in the US.

“I would really encourage Irish firms coming to America looking for business or investment to have someone with expertise in the American market go through their website and check for inconsistencies,” he noted.

“Just because your digital content is in English don’t assume that it will be OK for American audiences. There are cultural preferences and linguistic differences that you need to adopt for marketing messages to succeed.”

Branding is also about you

Gina London advised that Irish business leaders should remember that how they present themselves, and how they communicate personally, is an important aspect of branding and marketing, especially when seeking the backing of American investors.

“When you meet other CEOs, you need to have a handshake that is firm. You need to maintain eye contact. You need to be upfront and not pull back,” London said. “You have to show that you are confident, that you are a peer, and an equal.

“Americans are more direct than Europeans. They make a decision about whether to do a deal with someone largely within the first few minutes of meeting, when they determine if you are credible and ‘have the goods’. Americans are wired to look for weakness and to see if one party has an advantage over the other in a relationship. You are more likely to get a deal, and get a better deal, if you are not going cap in hand to someone.”

Of course, there are company founders and CEOs who are more reserved than others, and aren’t as comfortable making full-length presentations to, for example, a group of potential investors.  Nevertheless, London advises that the CEO should be present at such meetings, and should speak for at least a few minutes about how they founded the company, before handing over the rest of the presentation to another member of the senior management team.

Practice your pitch

“Every company founder should be able to tell the story of how they came to create the company without difficulty,” says London. “They should rehearse it until they have it pat.

“The Irish pride themselves on being a nation of storytellers. As a result, they sometimes tell their story on the wing, or from the hip. That isn’t good enough. You need to rehearse telling your story so that it has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and especially a good ending that emphasises why you are the best at what you do, and why you meet a real need.”

“Don’t leave an American audience to draw its own conclusions, when you are pitching your business,” adds Breun. “You are dealing with a different culture. You need to keep it short and sticky and make your exact value proposition clear to the person you are engaging with. Emphasise that and underline it.”

Think local

Both Bruen and London stressed that America should not be seen as one homogenous market. Both advised that marketing communications that work in New York or Boston will not necessarily work in Mississippi or Georgia.

“Do your homework,” advised London. “This is very basic stuff but when meeting a potential client or investor spend some time online researching the individuals you will meet and their companies. Also, find out about the places they live and work.  If it looks like you understand the local culture, you will look like you know what you are talking about.”

 

Learn how Enterprise Ireland can help your business to export to North America on our USA Markets page.