The British Consulate General, Scottish Development International (SDI), and the British New Zealand Business Association (BNZBA) recently hosted an exclusive panel discussion and networking lunch designed for technology and advanced manufacturing leaders and innovators.
The panel was made up of Todd Gisby, who in his role as founder & Chief Systems Architect of NZ company StretchSense, has overseen the creation of a centre of excellence in Scotland.
He was joined by Darren Lee, Customer Service Lead at Humanitix, a social enterprise ticketing platform that recently set up its UK branch in Edinburgh. The panel was rounded out by Dr Saul S. Carroll who serves as a Director at Soliton Network Consulting Pty Ltd.
Boots on the ground
And Carroll was in no doubt that there can be no substitute for real face to face contact. “We see a lot of Scottish companies who want to try and get into the Australian market and think they can do it remotely,” he said “They think, I’ve got their email, so just give us your marketing list and I’ll stay up late one night and call it for you straight away.
But I always strongly advocate, that you have to be there in flesh. You have to be out there. No customer in Australia, or Scotland for that matter, is going to engage with a business who’s not got a physical presence there.
Gisby agreed that while having a principle investor located in Scotland encouraged StretchSense to locate there, there was more to it than just finance. “Money wasn’t the only reason to locate to Scotland. And while I think it started off, in a sense, being the search for money, but it’s very important to find the right money.”
Meeting of minds
In practice, Gisby said, that means looking for people who understand what you’re trying to do.
“We happen to have found that in Scotland with the people that are involved there with our Scottish branch. And so I think that’s what really makes us unique.”
And he points to principal investors Par Equity as a model of engaged backers able to offer more than just hard cash. “They understood that the network and connecting people and finding the right places to be is very important to the development of the company.”
And I think that’s what we found with Par Equity, was a similar mindset. I think they have a ground in DTECH, which obviously is very important. I think for our business now, we’re very focused on XR, VR, AR, that sort of space, and there’s a lot of amazing work done at universities in Scotland.
He went to explain that the company’s desire to make inroads into the UK and Europe more widely saw a number of factors converge: “It was a series of things – the investment partner, they’ve got the networks, there’s the other ecosystem, there’s the business needs, they all come together at once, and that’s what made the big difference.”
Valued advice
And Gisby outlined the importance of getting the right partner. “If you don’t have someone who knows that local system, then you’re stuffed, pretty much.”
While StretchSense’s investors have been supportive on that front, he admitted dealing with Scottish Enterprise, EIS, and the tax authorities remains a struggle, but it’s made much easier with the right advice. “Because we’ve had the same experience in the US, Japan, China and Scotland, and if you don’t have someone on the ground who’s well -connected and understands well how that system works, it’s very hard going.”
A key theme that ran through the session was Gisby’s belief that every start up needs support, particularly when trying to crack a new market. “You’d spend so much time not working on the actual business, which really, when you’re a start -up and maybe you’re only a couple of people, doing the admin and not the idea, and not putting all your focus into developing this new business idea is quite crippling.”
And he explained that in order to crack the new market, while finance is invaluable, the intangible value of expert advice, guidance, connections and networks cannot be underestimated. “I think when you get help to encourage you to do the things that are really important, like visiting your markets, talking to your customers, being able to spend time in places where you need to be is so important.”
Successful partnerships
That was echoed by Darren Lee, who explained that Humanitix’s growth was instantly accelerated thanks to the support from Scottish Development International, who OK-ed grant funding.
“And that was massive, because it wasn’t necessarily expected,” he said. “You have your plans on how you’re going to arrive, how you’re going to spend, what money you’ve raised. And to get an injection of £325,000 was massive. We got to really take a look at that calendar and say, well, maybe we’re only going to hire this many people to start with. Let’s double that. Let’s build faster.”
Ultimately the panel all agreed that the key success factor is looking for, finding and working successfully with the right partners.
“That’s my key advice: don’t go it alone,” said Lee “There’s really no need to spend months, if not years, not to mention the expenses that you incur over that time, when there’s great people and great organizations that are really willing to listen and understand.
“And that was huge for us, just because they took the time to really understand what we wanted to achieve and provided the expertise to do that was a game changer for us. That’s why it’s been our fastest ramp up.”
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