Entering a new marketplace is a daunting prospect for any FinTech – not least amid a global pandemic. Ordinarily, visits and trade missions would help businesses familiarise themselves, find their feet and build important relationships, but Covid-19 has called a halt to the traditional.
Newfound has developed programmes of support to help firms gain insights and market knowledge and develop key relationships, including its upcoming virtual mission to Australia.
Founder and CEO Pete Gillingwater has spent most of his career helping organisations acquire and develop talent for international growth – but he began to realise the problems faced are much more complex. “One of my core frustrations over the past 10 years has been that despite hiring very good people, companies often fail at their first or even second attempt at an international marketplace,” he explains.
While scaling internationally is an exciting prospect for a growing FinTech, there are many aspects to consider, and failing to prepare is preparing to fail. “The truth is companies often don’t do their homework,” says Gillingwater. Often teams fail to investigate important aspects like competition, the regulatory landscape and how the market really differs from their local region.
Newfound works with a range of international clients coming into the UK and expanding outward, and has developed a range of services to support them through market validation. “Is the market right? Is the timing right? Does the product fit well? What’s the competition like? How big is the marketplace? These are all things companies should be able to answer before they commit to any significant investment,” says Gillingwater.
In order to tailor its approach to the current situation, Newfound has launched Market Missions, a virtual trade mission programme developed by its UK and Australia teams, designed to support FinTech companies coming into either country. Each programme draws on more than 50 experts – entrepreneurs, advisors, growth experts, government and policy makers – to give companies insight and connections.
“We want companies to come away from the programme being able to say ‘yes, we definitely want to come to a new marketplace’ – or maybe lots of questions have been posed so they have to go back and think about it,” Gillingwater comments. Either way, he’s keen to highlight that companies must be realistic and have a 360-degree view of the challenges they can expect.
“Do your homework,” he advises. “Make sure you can absolutely validate the market is right. Do not waste time and money.” Secondly, a solid plan must be in place. “This is not a case of turning up at Heathrow and booking an Airbnb and an office for the week. That is not a plan: that’s a way to spend money and waste time. Use your network and experts that can support you in your planning phase.
“Thirdly, make sure you have enough resources and capital to execute that plan. You can’t easily enter a market on a shoestring. If you’re going to do it, do it properly,” he concludes. “That means localising your online presence, marketing and sales collateral, building brand awareness and customer advocacy – there are lots of things you should be thinking about doing, and doing them on a shoestring is prone to failure.”
Despite uncertain times, the UK remains a popular market for expansion. “The interest in the UK from the Australia and New Zealand markets is very high, as well as for companies across Europe and Southeast Asia. Companies are very keen to come into the UK but they need to figure out how to do it. Ultimately it’s a huge decision for them to make.
As for the UK’s FinTech ecosystem, Gillingwater indicates that while there is a lot of support, it is complicated, overlaps and lacks coordination in some places. “I think everyone wants the same thing – to support international growth, have imminent investment, make sure their companies are successful – so there’s alignment there.
“In a way there’s too much support and companies we speak to tend to become quite confused with the amount of information. If you’re trying to figure this out from an overseas marketplace without access to smart, connected people, it’s a big challenge.”
It’s understandable that Market Missions provides some solutions to these problems, but how has Newfound managed to achieve this without physical meetings? “All 50 experts have been asked without exception to be deeply involved in the programme and make themselves accessible afterward to the cohort of companies,” says Gillingwater. “They’ve all agreed to do so. They realise companies are having to do things differently and need help and support.
“Historically, video hasn’t been the tool of choice. Our preference has been to go and see people, and meet face to face – but of course now we can’t do that, so we’ve found new ways of adapting and continuing to support companies with their growth plans.” Newfound sees Market Missions not as a replacement for the traditional methods, but as an addition, which it hopes may last long after Covid-19.
“When we started Market Missions, we didn’t appreciate the opportunity and the challenge,” says Gillingwater. “A huge amount of effort has gone into it. This is the first multi-day programme of its kind being launched in the marketplace, so we’re very excited for the opportunities we have for the select number of companies in the programme.”
Newfound is currently running virtual missions to both the UK and Australia. The Market Mission to Australia takes place from 7-17 September and FinTech Alliance companies are offered the opportunity to take part or attend a number of virtual events.
