“The return on investment has been excellent – we’ve already had a company join our Soft-Landing programme in Wales and form partnerships with several other Welsh companies”.
The Welsh Government is on a mission to position Wales as the ideal location for companies seeking to expand and grow their businesses in the UK market. Lynsey Thompson and Rachael Bayona are responsible for driving this business development, promoting Wales as a hub for growing and scaling up businesses in the fintech and insurtech sectors.
Starting their partnership with Insurtech Insights in 2022, the Welsh Government’s strategy was to attract insurtechs to expand their business and offices in Wales, and highlighting the opportunities to traditional insurers looking to expand and innovate. Wales has a thriving insurtech sector and is Europe’s centre for online insurance aggregators with providers such as MoneySuperMarket, GoCompare, and Confused.com based in Wales. The Insurance sector in Wales is well established and employs over 8,000 people, with home grown Admiral Insurance, Legal & General, Lloyds banking Group, AJ Gallaghers and Thomas Carroll Group amongst the larger insurers with operations in Wales. With a thriving insurtech ecosystem, Insurtech Insights was the ideal platform to promote the opportunities in Wales and support Welsh businesses looking to scale.
Joining the conference for the first time in 2022, the Welsh Government has built on the momentum and connections gained during that initial partnership – expanding its collaboration with ITI during 2023 and 2024, with preparations for 2025 already underway.
Attracting Businesses to Wales
When creating their strategy to attract insurtechs and insurers to Wales, Lynsey recognised the importance of meeting directly with businesses in the sector, to understand their challenges and build awareness of the opportunities available to them by locating in Wales. During the pandemic, ITI’s “high quality” webinars caught her attention, providing a valuable vehicle for increasing engagement with the sector. After a successful pilot engagement with ITI’s webinar programme, Lynsey recognised the added value that would be gained from partnering with ITI’s live event – providing the perfect platform to promote Wales to the insurtech industry.
The Challenges
To successfully achieve this, three key challenges had to be addressed:
- Increasing visibility of the opportunities available to insurtech companies in Wales.
- Raising Wales’s profile in the industry through showcasing the calibre of companies currently based in Wales.
- Driving leads by connecting with senior decision-makers, and foster long-term relationships to encourage future expansion in Wales.
Accelerating Visibility
The first step in drawing insurtech companies to Wales was to ensure that the industry was aware of the region’s unique opportunities to them. As Europe’s largest insurtech conference, ITI provided the perfect platform to solidify this awareness. By having a booth at ITI, the Welsh Government were able to attract the exposure needed to boost their visibility in the industry.
To maximise their exposure, it was crucial to secure a prime booth location. Building on the learnings from their first year, they worked closely with the ITI team to tailor the booth’s location to their needs, securing a location in the heart of the exhibition hall. The added traffic and visibility paid off.
“We had so much traffic and engagement at our booth, both from secured meetings and people stopping by wanting to learn about our offering, that we’ll need to bring more resources next time!” they shared.
Raising Their Profile
A critical element of the Welsh Government’s strategy was showcasing the calibre and innovative work of companies already based in Wales. By hosting a custom panel session on stage, they were able to bring together leaders from companies breaking ground in Wales. By taking the stage, they were not only able to demonstrate what can be achieved in Wales, but also positioned the region as a hub for cutting-edge innovation and growth.
“The attendance of our panel session was phenomenal. The interest was so high that there weren’t enough seats, and the engagement was amazing”.
Session hosted by the Welsh Government at Insurtech Insights Europe 2024
The partnership also provided an opportunity to bring Welsh insurtechs to the event to showcase their innovative businesses and develop new leads. One business who benefitted from the opportunity this year is EthicsAnswer, who provide an automated solution for ESG disclosure. CEO Charles Radclyffe reflected:
“We’re super grateful to the Welsh Government for inviting us to Insurtech Insights in 2024 where we met a new prospect that has since turned into a great new customer for us. As a startup, every lead is precious, but serendipity is priceless. I’m looking forward to InsurTech Insights 2025 when hopefully we can create even more serendipity for ourselves!”
Connecting with Decision-Makers and Building Leads
To convert their increased visibility into concrete results, it was also essential for the Welsh Government to engage directly with decision-makers at target companies. ITI’s senior global audience, with 78 countries represented and 67% being C-suite executives and other senior leaders, perfectly aligned with this objective. By scheduling meetings at their booth and leveraging the interest generated by their panel session, the team was able to spark numerous meaningful conversations with decision-makers from their target audience.
“We’ve had some fantastic discussions with founders and CEOs – who are the people that can make strategic decisions and decide the company’s expansion plans – which is phenomenal,” Lynsey noted. “It’s the quality of these leads and the long-term opportunities they present to us that really stands out”.
Results
As a direct result of their engagement at ITI, one company has already joined Wales’s “Soft-Landing” programme. This company has also entered into partnerships with several other Welsh companies. In an industry where tangible results often can take years to materialize, Lynsey and Rachael share that: “the return on investment has been excellent”. Additionally, they have experienced a boost in their recognition in the industry, as more people are familiar with what Wales has to offer.
Working with the ITI Team
When asked how it has been to work with the ITI team, Lynsey says: “The team has been super helpful in listening to our feedback and in accommodating it. Understanding that we’re a little bit different to many of the other businesses participating, they were able to really tailor their solutions to us”.