15 London Enterprise Tech Firms Consider Going Global Via Atlanta

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has preached the power of sports to open doors for business, and it looks like the strategy is paying off when it comes to the city’s technology ties with London. 

After welcoming a sports tech delegation from the U.K. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in April 2022, the mayor made an impression while across the pond for the Atlanta Falcons game at Wembley Stadium last October. 

Anton Sasson, international trade lead for enterprise tech at London & Partners, said he didn’t understand how American politicians could fill up stadiums until he heard Mr. Dickens speak.

The mayor’s enthusiasm helped persuade the U.K. capital’s business development agency to pick Atlanta for the first leg of this year’s Grow London Global series, designed to help promising firms open doors around the world.

“We’ve been very impressed and grateful for the welcome that we’ve received,” Mr. Sasson said during a reception Tuesday. “We’re here to build on our partnership between London and Atlanta.”

London & Partners, which worked with Invest Atlanta on an executive roundtable during the mayor’s October trip, returned the favor this time by bringing 15 London-based firms involved in enterprise tech — most of them women-led and many powered by artificial intelligence, an area where the U.K. has been keen to show international leadership.

Before heading to Dallas, they spent two days meeting with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, visiting enterprises like Incomm and Home Depot, and mingling with the community during the event at British Consul General Rachel Galloway’s residence in Buckhead Tuesday evening. Marked by their red lanyards, the British founders and executives were engrossed in conversation for most of the night.

Tyk, which helps companies create and manage the APIs that help large banks, hotel booking sites, telecom companies and other platforms manage integrations with their web-based applications.

“We’re the boring plumbing and pipeline” behind interfaces that power some of the largest companies in the world, co-founder James Hirst told Global Atlanta.

Tyk has been present in Atlanta for four years serving the broader U.S., taking advantage of its physical proximity and connectivity to the U.K. But Mr. Hirst saw this mission as a chance to break into major corporations locally.

“We have a really great team here to serve all over, but we haven’t opened doors for the big enterprises,” Mr. Hirst said, noting that Atlanta, where he travels every couple of months, resembles Tyk’s Asia hub in Singapore when it comes to sales cycles. “Personal relationships, face to face meetings — really important. I can sell to the West Coast through a Zoom meeting. Here, for some reason we can’t.”

Ruby Pillai founded warranty management platform iWarranty out frustration with missing her chance to file a device repair claim. Helping companies manage the data and processes around warranties, she says, helps boost efficiencies and can help keep perfectly good devices out of landfills.

The B2B software company has some customers in the U.S. but no physical presence just yet, the 15-year legal veteran and Cambridge University Ph.D. told Global Atlanta.

In addition to its healthy manufacturing and retail sector, she was struck by Atlanta’s welcoming nature — a key consideration for minority executives looking to spend extended time here. 

“It’s certainly an inclusive community, and the spirit has been fabulous,” she said. 

Based in New York, Brianna Barros, director of business development at London’s Robin AI was interested to see how both government agencies and Atlanta’s broader tech ecosystem support the growth of new ventures, she said. 

“I love how many programs there are here for companies,” Ms. Barros said. “I love that the government is super transparent about the different tax benefits available. It looks like they’re doing everything they can to make sure companies come here, play here and stay here.” 

Robin AI helps in-house legal teams use artificial intelligence to generate, review and refine contracts, boosting productivity and improving accuracy while enabling their attorneys to focus on higher-value tasks. It also helps unify a firm’s language and style across their legal portfolio. 

While it’s focused on enterprises, individuals can download Robin’s Microsoft Word add-on and instantly start improving their contract writing, she said. 

The group also visited Cox Enterprises, Coca-Cola Co., the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech, the Atlanta office of Indian tech firm Infosys and more. 

Contact the following London & Partners representatives to engage with the companies:

• Amrit Kang – Vice President of Trade
• Anton Sasson – Enterprise International Trade Manager
• Ciana Hamlett – Business Development Executive

View the full delegation below:

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