Government of WA’s Virtual Trade Mission for London Tech Week 2020
With the global pandemic preventing face-to-face meetings and travel, the Government of Western Australia partnered with Anglo-Australian tech firm Newfound to lead a virtual trade mission to the United Kingdom over 15-17 September, timed to align with the annual London Tech Week.
Client
Virtual Trade Mission to London for WA tech companies
The Challenge
The global pandemic in 2020 prevented our office to host a trade mission to the UK for Western Australian startups and scaleups over London Tech Week.
The Outcome
Our office partnered with local firm Newfound to build a virtual trade mission format which enabled the WA companies to access world-class entrepreneurs and VCs through interactive workshops, including advice from those companies who have already successfully made the leap into the UK.
Timed to coincide with London Tech Week, ten innovative Western Australian tech companies were selected to join in a multi-day program to meet potential clients and investors and engage in interactive sessions to ready their companies to expand into the dynamic British technology market.
Last year, London became the backdrop for a week-long festival of tech and innovation as London Tech Week in June brought together over 58,000 attendees from 95 countries to attend their 300 events. This year London Tech Week was postponed to September and turned virtual, still set to maintain its position as one of the world’s biggest technology conferences.
The WA startups and scaleups selected to join the virtual trade mission led by the Government of Western Australia and Newfound were Noisy Guts, Safe Watch Global, Space Industries, OviDrive, Mortgage Mates, ReviseOnline, Accounts Flow, AI Group, Quipmo and Credenxia.
The innovative virtual trade mission format enabled the companies to engage with their peers from across WA whilst accessing world-class entrepreneurs and VCs through interactive workshops, including advice from those companies who have already successfully made the leap into the UK. The programme concluded with a Pitch Day hosted by leading corporate innovation specialists.
For Mortgage Mates, the opportunity to navigate the discussion of a global expansion, in particular into the United Kingdom- during a pandemic, was invaluable. The pitching event and feedback we received, confirmed that for us, housing affordability is an issue across the globe, and that our proptech website offers a real time solution to address these issues in both Australia and the UK. Thank you for choosing us to be a part of the Virtual Trade Mission 2020.
Daisy Ashworth, Co-Founder, Mortgage Mates
The Virtual Trade Mission helped Noisy Guts bridge the 14,000+ km gap between Perth and London during a global pandemic. Hearing from other Aussie and Kiwi founders who had made the leap was incredibly insightful. From ‘boots-on-the-ground’, developing an international sales strategy, visiting Manchester’s digital health showcase to tailoring our pitch to savvy UK investors, the VTM was the perfect opportunity to think about and challenge our global expansion strategy.
Dr Josephine Muir, CEO of Noisy Guts
Contact us
Located in London, the Office of the Agent General has a dedicated team of trade and investment specialists ready to expedite your project.
5th Floor, Australia Centre, Cnr of Strand & Melbourne Place
London WC2B 4LG