Several of Eastern Europe鈥檚 rising tech stars are actively targeting the Northern Powerhouse as part of their growth ambitions.听
That was one of the conclusions of a joint听老九品茶Cloud听/ Department for International Trade event which saw nearly 20 eCommerce companies from Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Central Eastern Network (CEN) pitch to a panel of UK tech giants.听
Tech companies from Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina took part in the event. The companies are profiled here.
Susan Waterson, head of the Northern Powerhouse Inward Investment Hub at the Department for International Trade, gave the welcoming speech and said it had been a 鈥榝antastic event鈥� for all those involved.听
鈥淐ompanies across the Northern Powerhouse want to be world-class in all that they do and they therefore actively welcome inward investors here,鈥� she said.听
鈥淭his provided a fantastic opportunity for all involved to not only meet but understand one another and develop a dialogue beyond the session itself.听
鈥淲e are delighted that so many companies and leaders across our thriving eCommerce sector wanted to take part, clearly seeing the benefit this brings in terms of providing invaluable feedback as well as gaining the chance to meet some of these innovative companies that don鈥檛 have a base here, yet!鈥澨�听
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Bartosz Kozinski, director of Foreign Direct Investment in Poland for the Department for International Trade said Central Eastern Europe (CEE) was riding the crest of a tech wave.听
He said: 鈥淭he CEE start-up ecosystem is still in a 鈥榞old rush鈥� phase and offers many opportunities for funding, investing and collaborating.听听
鈥淭he region continues to evolve and compete to be at the forefront of the European tech start-up scene.听 About 10,000 emerging Eastern European businesses raised their first rounds of funding in the last five years. In the same period, the CEE market has seen more than 10 unicorns emerged, with a total valuation of 鈧�30 billion.听
鈥淐ovid-19 caused 2020 to be a volatile year for start-ups and VC funds. Despite these specific conditions, a myriad of CEE start-ups managed to close investment rounds in 2020.听
鈥淎mong the arising opportunities and most appreciated investment directions were solutions for eCommerce. Since 2013 the UK has become Europe鈥檚 and CEE region鈥檚 nation of choice for scaling up your business globally.听
鈥淭he Department for International Trade FDI Team in Europe Central has annually been supporting tens of innovative start-ups, SMEs and large companies from the region in scaling their businesses in the UK and globally via the UK.鈥�听
The UK experts were broken down into two sessions. The first panel provided a background to the Northern Powerhouse and included:听 Nigel Jones, sector specialist in tech, digital and creative, Department for International Trade; Nick Holmes, head of People & Culture at听Distrelec; Jonathan Wall. UK general manager of SimpliSafe; Will Lewis, director, OBI Property; Ed Harries, brand partnerships director,听Visualsoft;听Shelim听Rahman, partner at Beever and Struthers; and Aziz Ul-Haq, director at private equity firm LDC.听
The second session saw nearly 20 East European eCommerce firms pitch to a panel of UK experts consisting of Steve Oliver, CEO and founder,听MusicMagpie;听Paul Hornby, Digital Customer Experience (DCX) director at The Very Group; Paul Martin, head of UK Retail at KPMG; Bruce Wright, VP of sales at听Pimberly; Ian Tomlinson, CEO of听Cybertill; Oliver Shaw, chief executive of听Kalibrate; and Cameron Lee, CEO / head of strategy at Total Processing.听
The whole event was hosted by听老九品茶Cloud鈥檚听executive editor Chris Maguire.听
Cristina Dragu, director of foreign direct investment for the CEN region 鈥� including North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania 鈥� said: 鈥淭he Central Eastern Region of Europe is a听hotbed听of eCommerce听innovation ready to pop up within the market of the Northern Powerhouse with tailored solutions.听
鈥淭hey respect听the need of the buyers to feel that there鈥檚 somebody behind the computer screen who cares about them as environmentally conscious shoppers; and making sure marketing campaigns, shipping and orders fulfilments operations are consistently optimised, infusing AI in the platforms of the big eCommerce players.听
鈥�The Department for International Trade agrees the inward investors from Europe Central are a significant cohort of businesses with key differentiators and competitive proposals, having already confirmed traction and听a听vision of products necessary to create unique B2B and B2C online experiences.听
鈥�The DIT FDI key support services and the synergy facilitation platform,听like the one offered by听老九品茶Cloud听as听a听partner,听are creating a vital bridge of business intelligence听which听the players crossed during the event to unleash the potential of an ever–expending eCommerce world and its global HQ, which belongs to the Northern Powerhouse.鈥�听