THAMES VALLEY TECH AWARDS
techniques with new methodologies to measure and find defects in software. Our ‘eureka’ moment was finding a way to fix defects in poorly written software code before it is released so your customers save time and money later on putting things right.”
As a start-up, ScopeMaster lacked customers as reference points to attract business. “Instead, we sought out thought leaders and industry stalwarts for their opinions on what we are doing, which provides a reassuring endorsement to prospective customers,” added Hammond.
Andrew Barnett explained that FliteTrak’s success in remote monitoring systems is driven by three things. “Creativity, innovation and MVP (minimum viable product),” he said. “We developed our basic product and then engaged with a partner to take us to the next phase. We didn’t want to waste money on innovative stuff that wouldn’t be used, so we took our MVP to customers to find out what was right and wrong about it – we didn’t assume we knew. It means we are bringing customers along with us, not just selling to them. For example, we thought airlines would be interested in seat belt closure and mobile phone use, but many were more interested in air quality monitoring and passenger weight.”
Tech start-up Limbick Labs is creating a survey tool to help capture how people feel using animated emoji, for areas such as customer experience and mental health. Nick Holland said the company is busy looking at how other businesses have developed. “A key factor to success is empathy, with staff and customers, and it has to start with the leaders at the top. If you look after your staff they will look after your customers – that can be the difference between good and great.”
MCS Rental Software entered a relatively mature industry sector. Guy van der Knaap commented: “We do two things differently from our competitors. First, we introduced a subscription model rather than the traditional perpetual model for software rental. It took us about three years to introduce this and some customers weren’t happy at first, but it has been a real boon for us. The second was developing a configurable product that can be used relatively easily and at relatively little cost in other countries, including France, the Netherlands and Germany. We are now focusing on getting overseas businesses off the ground by being perceived as a local company in those countries.”
Toby Crawford said Imaginera takes advantage of the preference of reinsurance companies to stay lean in terms of headcount by outsourcing their software development. “Reinsurance typically has low transactional volumes that are high value and high complexity. There is a
lot of product innovation and a desire for bespoke software. Our success has been based on taking the time to really understand reinsurers’ businesses so we offer what they need.”
Helping businesses enter the space age is driving Open Cosmos, which has launched one satellite and is planning more. Aleix Megias Homar said: “The use of small satellites is a growing market. But companies have to overcome three major barriers to access space: technology, regulatory frameworks and cost. We have put together a set of products and services that make space more affordable and simplifies the whole service delivery. We have a laser-like focus on customer needs by mass-customising satellites for different data sets and payloads. We are building strong relationships with our customers.”
Funding options
Would companies grow faster with access to more cash? Barclays’ Lee Atkinson pointed out that it depends on what stage a company is in its lifecycle as to whether its an angel investor, venture capitalist, private equity or bank debt. Jonathan Caswell at private equity specialists LDC said: “We tend to invest in companies that have already developed a good product. As an investment partner we help them to scale up and accelerate growth, for example, organically or through acquisition, and into new geographies.”
Griffiths said: “FISCAL Technologies is self funded. I’ve spoken with business owners who took private equity early and think they tend to be more focused on finance than on their customers. We are going through our own private equity considerations at the moment and about 25% of my time over the past six months has been taken up jumping through hoops.”
Like FISCAL, Imaginera is self-funded. “We have made a profit from day one. Phase one for us was building our cash reserve to fund phase two, which we are now entering,” said Crawford.
Laura-Jane Turner from IT solutions provider Centerprise noted: “I think there is a ‘lost middle’ section of small and medium-sized companies where funding is harder to find. Since working for East Midlands Development Agency I haven’t seen any massive change in the challenge of helping entrepreneurial businesses to continue growing.”
Gareth Davies at Grant Thornton agreed with Turner that there appears to be a gap in the £1 million-£5m bracket for funding small businesses in the UK. The private equity and venture capital models are different. Private equity companies like to invest in established businesses, with a demonstrable track record. Venture capital companies, with an early stage focus, often
Continued overleaf ... THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
2018
Caroline Atkinson
Andrew Barnett
Guy van der Knaap
Gareth Davies
Nick Holland
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