Made in the UK Mondays: Mosaic Smart Data

How this business is raising the bar for service exports around the world.

When it comes to data, Founder Matthew Hodgson has cracked the code to international success with Mosaic Smart Data .

The London-based data analytics software company uses its expertise to provide solutions to the worldwide financial services industry.????

It’s winning formula? Using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help its clients better understand and service their own customers.??

The business started its export journey in 2014 when it signed US powerhouse JPMorgan as its first customer who then went on to invest in its expansion.?

Following its early success across the pond, the company has gone on to work with some of the world's largest banks, asset managers and market intermediaries across every continent.??

Mosaic Smart Data now has 70% of international paying customers, making exports a credit to its growth so far.??

Earlier this year, Mosaic Smart Data was announced as the winner of the ‘Financial Services and Fintech’ category in our Made in the UK, Sold to the World Awards 2024, which celebrates the exporting success of businesses across the UK.?

We spoke to Founder, Matthew Hodgson about Mosaic Smart Data’s international achievements:??

1. How has selling overseas helped your business grow????????

Exports have been central to our growth. Our very first customers, JPMorgan Investment Bank are New York-based, and since then international business continues to dominate our sales strategy today. We now have customers on every continent and over 70% of our paying customers are international, generating approximately 70% of our total revenues.?

In the past year we’ve signed a partnership agreement with Brussels-based Euroclear, the world’s largest financial clearing house. We have built a new platform called Smart Markets that leverages our technology to explore Euroclear’s vast and unique dataset of historical trades, with a number of other data providers in the pipeline. We have now begun a trial of this product with over 30 of the world’s largest investment banks, central banks, and asset managers.??

As well as the US and Europe, we’ve also had key relationships with Hong Kong and have previously won the InvestHK UK Fintech Awards organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. We’ve also attended overseas trade delegations which has helped to build up our relationships overseas.???

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2. What has been a key strategy in your exporting journey??

We’ve strategically leveraged partnerships to fuel our growth. Collaborations with key players in the sector, such as our reseller agreement with Frankfurt-based Commerzbank and our recent partnership with Brussels-based Euroclear, provide us with access to extensive international customer bases. This approach mitigates the constraints of our sales team size, allowing us to tap into established networks.??

Our products and services are meticulously crafted to function seamlessly on a global scale, meeting the diverse needs of international markets. In an industry dominated by large US-based competitors, our small and agile organisation stands out as a distinct advantage. This agility allows us to swiftly adapt our products to meet specific regional requirements, a flexibility that sets us apart from established technology service providers.

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3. What market challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Selling to international markets has taught us that legal complexities arise as international clients typically seek contracts under local legal jurisdiction, posing challenges in engaging legal counsel for each country. A strategic resolution involved finding common ground, often settling contracts under the laws and courts of New York.??

To address language barriers, we hired multilingual staff in sales and client services roles. A customer in Brazil recently prompted the adaptation of our product interface to Portuguese.??

Time zone disparities also helped us to implement rotating schedules for technical teams, ensuring continuous support across global time zones.??

We’ve found that when navigating these complexities, adaptability and strategy has been necessary to thrive in the diverse landscapes of international markets.??

4. What have you learned from selling overseas??

Exporting has been central to our strategy in the financial SaaS software sector.??

We’re driven by the necessity to cater to international operations and customers, but our exporting strategy is not just about market expansion. It's also about a conscious effort to align our products with international demands, leverage our agility against larger competitors and strategically partner with industry leaders to unlock unparalleled growth opportunities. ?

5. What’s next for Mosaic Smart Data?

We’ve launched our next fund-raising round with funding specialists to accelerate our next stage of growth. This will include building sales teams in North America and Asia.??

We’ve set ambitious sales targets to nearly double our annual recurring revenue in the next 12 months with the aim to break even in the next 24 months. In the last year, we’ve hired an experienced sales team with a proven track record of selling SaaS to international customers.??

Our recently signed partnership with Brussel-based Euroclear will see our solution sold into the network of Euroclear’s existing 4000+ international clients, which include central banks, regulators, investment banks and asset managers.??

We’re already in conversations to secure rapid and broad adoption of our data offering in various markets. We want to launch our product under our SmartMarkets sub-brand, and our strategy is to grow our partnerships.????

To access free business support along your international journey, visit great.gov.uk.