We’ve just supported two trade missions in the UK on behalf of Investment NSW to help innovative Australian companies explore opportunities in the British net zero and digital health sectors.
Over the past four months, we’ve worked closely Investment NSW to design and deliver business matching programmes to help ambitious Australian businesses navigate the UK market and engage potential customers and partners.
Net zero pioneers
In the first mission, we welcomed a delegation of five net zero tech companies from New South Wales: MCi Carbon, Rux Energy, Allegro Energy, Smartizer and NetNada. Although each company had its own objectives, all were looking to understand the UK’s rapidly evolving sustainability landscape in more detail and to identify opportunities for growth.
We ran a workshop ahead of the visit covering the UK’s net zero ecosystem, highlighting market trends and exploring the opportunities most relevant to the delegates. We then brought the delegation together with prospective customers, partners and industry stakeholders in the UK, alongside a visit to All-Energy in Glasgow, one of the nation’s foremost renewable energy events.
While Investment NSW coordinated engagements with government stakeholders and industry organisations, our focus was on connecting the delegates with prospective customers, partners and industry contacts that could play a role in their UK growth plans. Those conversations generated strong interest and opened the door to several follow-up discussions.
Smartizer also saw an immediate result from the connections made during the programme: “Intralink helped us expedite a major opportunity that otherwise would have taken months, if not years,” said Neil McFarlane, the company’s Head of Business Development.
Digital health companies
Our second mission focused on helping a delegation of New South Wales’ digital health and medtech companies to understand the NHS and identify opportunities within the broader UK healthcare market.
The delegation (pictured above) included CareMonitor, ShareGratitude, My Medic Watch, ChezLeon, Kernl and Gheorg.
Because the NHS is one of the world’s largest healthcare systems, the programme was designed to give the companies greater knowledge of how it operates and where the opportunities for innovation lie.
Ahead of the visit, we ran a series of webinars to demystify the structure of the NHS and the practicalities of bringing products and services to the UK healthcare market. A session led by Tony Bowden, CEO of Helicon Health, generated particular interest, with several companies requesting follow-up discussions with the firm.
The mission was timed to coincide with NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester – a major British health and care conference – giving the delegates an opportunity to engage decision-makers from across the UK.
Throughout the project, we arranged meetings with organisations across the healthcare ecosystem – from integrated care boards to community healthcare providers and non-governmental organisations.
The discussions held are already gaining momentum for several participants. CareMonitor generated considerable interest at NHS ConfedExpo, while ChezLeon has begun discussions with lymphoedema clinics in London and ShareGratitude is arranging a product demonstration for a UK healthcare provider.
“With Intralink’s support, we’ve engaged stakeholders across NHS Trusts and NHS England to introduce our unique workforce productivity programme and progress system-level discussions,” said Ross Vaizey Thomson, VP & Partner at ShareGratitude.
Reflecting on the two missions, Mark McClean, Trade & Investment Commissioner at Investment NSW, said: “Investment NSW partnered with Intralink to equip innovative New South Wales net zero and digital health companies with the market insights, strategic connections and stakeholder engagement opportunities needed to accelerate their growth and commercialisation in the UK."
If your state, region or city is home to innovative businesses looking to expand overseas, we can connect them with customers, partners and investors in high-growth markets. For an informal discussion, contact Paul Dupont at paul.dupont@intralinkgroup.com
