Member Article

New service helps North East tech companies crack American market

A Sunderland management specialist is helping the region’s software companies make it big stateside with the launch of a new service.

Alan Hill of IMA Limited, who assist international companies to set up in the UK, has established LaunchUSA, a service that supports British software and technology firms who want to expand into the USA.

LaunchUSA provides outsourced infrastructure support including financial and HR expertise, fast-start market development as well as relocation services to help companies expanding into the United States break into the market quickly.

The service was launched in the US last month at a special event held at the British Consulate in San Francisco and was attended by Consul General Priya Guha, US venture capitalists and UK firms keen to establish a base in Silicon Valley.

Having helped large numbers of international businesses establish a UK base as Chief Executive of IMA, Alan is hoping more of the regions software companies will take the opportunity to grow their business in the US.

Alan said: “Software companies in the UK are amongst the most innovative and skilled in the world, and have the potential to be working on a global scale. The USA generates around 25% of the worlds Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it’s a market that few companies can ignore.

“LaunchUSA removes the burden of setting up your own infrastructure allowing businesses to focus on core activities, establishing them quickly, attracting customers and growing their business stateside.”

IMA Limited, which has offices in London as well as a North East base in Sunderland Software Centre, has been helping international clients establish both a presence and develop their businesses in the UK since 2003, with high-end leisure company Equinox Gym and University of British Columbia student recruitment, online advertising specialists App Nexus and cloud services consultancy Appririo amongst previous customers.

IMA decided to launch the specialist US service after hearing from software companies in the UK who wanted to set up offices in America but were put off by confusion over recruitment, HR and investing in the right infrastructure.

Having made numerous visits to the US, IMA decided San Francisco was the ideal location to set up LaunchUSA due to the city’s skilled population, vibrant software start-up community, incubator programmes and proximity to Silicon Valley, home to some of the world’s biggest technology companies including Google, Facebook and Apple Inc.

David Dunn, chief executive of Sunderland Software City said: “Establishing closer links with major technology hubs such as Silicon Valley provide great opportunities for the region’s software companies.

“Services such as LaunchUSA ease the transition of establishing a business in a new market and allow business owners to hit the ground running.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amy Watson .