Teamwork.com is on a mission to make companies more efficient, organized, and profitable and make employees happier in their work. Co-founders Peter Coppinger and Daniel Mackey have been building websites and consulting on software since 1999. Their insights into business efficiency, built up over many years, allowed them to build a product so strong, they landed their first enterprise contract with Disney and they’ve only gone up from there.
In a nutshell, Teamwork.com provides teams with the tools and reports they need to maximize resources and time. “As organizations scale, inefficiencies can creep into managing the day-to-day processes,” says Peter Coppinger, CEO at Teamwork. “So, Teamwork.com helps manage that while keeping the big picture front and centre.”
With that, the software acts as a resource manager, making sure projects are effective, that tasks are templated so they are quickly repeatable, and keeps track of financials – so businesses can become more profitable on big initiatives.
“We act as the kind of core system you need to scale your company. There’s an array of use cases that Teamwork.com can be used for, but the main areas we solve for are efficiency in your day-to-day operations, the profitability of initiatives and managing resources, and we act as a customer communication platform and a central knowledge base.”
And it’s this all-encompassing technology that is positioning them as the backbone of many global companies.
The backbone of banking processes
Teamwork.com is being used by organisations across many industries – but financial services, in particular are beginning to reap the rewards of this tool due to its financial transparency, security, and data protection capabilities.
“Financial services, especially in the USA, is one of our biggest segments, particularly those institutions that provide services to other firms. Our platform effectively helps them scale their organisations more effectively and efficiently, offering huge returns on investment.
One such institution who have deployed Teamwork.com company-wide is Lincoln Financial Group (or LFG), a publicly held insurance and financial services holding company.
“Every team in there is able to manage their day-to-day – but it also allows senior managers to step out of the day-to-day, see the profitability and performance of every team and identify any constraints or bottlenecks in the company as well.”
This technology is helping banks with future planning, not just in terms of projects, but manpower too – which has never been more important than in today’s economic climate.
“It’s very typical that a company may be over-reliant on a couple of key people, no matter what processes you have in your company. And as you scale, these people become bottlenecked – not deliberately, they’re just overloaded. We provide visibility into where your bottlenecks are so that you can plan ahead. How many people can you take on? At what point will you have to hire them? Is it even feasible to take on this big project? So, we give you the bird’s eye view you need to make those plans.”
This kind of foresight is helping financial institutions and other businesses alike consolidate their existing tools (reducing costs) and manage internal access to data (maximising security). Not to mention that companies in general are seeing a 437% ROI when using Teamwork.com according to The Total Economic Impact™ of Teamwork.com study conducted by Forrester Consulting.
A global portfolio of Teamwork
Having recently opened an office in Denver, Teamwork.com has set its sights on becoming an essential business limb from the east coast to the west, in industries from healthcare to education. Already, they’re working with an extensive portfolio of US clients such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Bioscience, and The Office of Research Administration to name but a few.
“We probably have every university in the States using Teamwork.com in some capacity.”
Teamwork.com is also striving to simplify global projects, and one that it is particularly proud of is working with Special Olympics 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
“We helped with the organisation of the entire event – everything from the soup that was served to the games, to the accommodation, to the planning, to the jerseys. Every last element was planned on Teamwork.com by the entire Olympic committee.”
With events of this magnitude, there’s no room for mistakes and synchronised communication is vital. Which really demonstrates the value and simplicity of Teamwork. Whether you have a staff of 10 or 10,000 you can ensure your teams are all working together towards the same goal – and Enterprise Ireland has been supporting Teamwork.com to continue expanding the magnitude of their offering.
“In the last couple of years, we’ve been really partnering with EI who have helped accelerate our R&D in particular. There’s been a couple of big initiatives and big projects such as building a CRM into Teamwork. Our vision for Teamwork.com is to be the complete end-to-end system for businesses. With the resources we had originally available to us, we were able to move at 80% of the speed we wanted, but Enterprise Ireland was able to help us get to a 100%.”
Across the world, Enterprise Ireland’s global teams are connecting the world’s most dynamic companies with the transformative Irish technology they need to compete and grow. We know where innovation lives. Let us connect you to it.
FINEOS was established by Michael Kelly in 1993 as an IT services company – and its ensuing success allowed Michael to develop a core software platform for the Life, Accident and Health insurance industry. Today, this end-to-end SaaS platform helps life assurers globally provide the best possible service to their customers.
Combining a core insurance suite with digital and data capabilities, the FINEOS Platform is purpose-built for the Life, Accident and Health industry and the Employee Benefits market to seamlessly support insurers, employers, and employees on their insurance journeys. Teams can manage everything from absences to billing, claims, payments, policy administration, and providers – and, after acquiring Limelight Health in 2020 – FINEOS has created a complete quote-to-claim solution.
With secure and scalable cloud capabilities, low-code/no-code configuration, and the right APIs to support the broad partner ecosystem of Employee Benefits providers, Ian Lynagh, FINEOS Chief Financial Officer, believes the FINEOS Platform has become a key asset for the insurance industry worldwide. It is designed to support a variety of business models, languages and currencies enabling market solutions suitable for regional markets across the globe.
Simplifying insurance and finance processes
“FINEOS software helps the teams working in insurance deliver better customer service, process claims faster, develop new products, and make a bad day better for millions of people filing claims. Our presence is invisible to the consumer, but if FINEOS is there, we are simplifying their interactions,” according to the CFO.
FINEOS enables insurers to provide customer-centric group insurance that meets the demands of today’s workforce. In addition to traditional employer-paid benefits, the FINEOS Platform enables flexibility and speed to market for the wide variety of voluntary benefits that have been critical for American employers to retain and attract talent since the pandemic.
“Broadly, many Irish companies are performing very well in the financial services sector. However, within the life, accident and health insurance market, the growth trajectory for FINEOS required a reach beyond the Irish insurance sector. We took Irish technology know-how around the world, solving business challenges with a workforce that spread out from Ireland and grew over thirty years.”
And when taking it to the U.S. in particular, FINEOS found this complex market had a large ecosystem operating on legacy IT systems in need of incremental or total digital transformation. Therefore, its Employee Benefits solution found success there providing frictionless engagement to insurers, brokers, employers and consumers around disability, accident, and income protection.
Taking Irish technology around the world
Given the U.S. market’s reliance on commercial carriers for most work-related benefits, Ian goes on to explain why it’s the perfect customer base for the FINEOS Platform.
“Our biggest market is North America, and it represents about 30% of the global insurance market. FINEOS sees a huge opportunity to gain new name clients and expand relationships with current clients in Employee Benefits there.”
With a growing American presence, FINEOS now boasts a high-profile portfolio of industry leaders such as Mutual of Omaha, New York Life Group Benefit Solutions, Principal Financial Group, Sun Life Financial, Transamerica, and OneAmerica, among others.
But it doesn’t stop there – as the pioneering technology for the sector, FINEOS is prioritising R&D investments and data analytics to further its expertise. This means they are aligned with (and ahead of) global trends on a local scale. For example, total employee benefits management in the United States, hybrid state/private sector-driven benefits in Canada, Australia & New Zealand, and the international trend toward more flexible and integrated Life, Accident and Health benefits.
With this expertise, they have now built up a strong presence beyond the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. And they plan to expand that presence globally, focusing on continued growth in the U.K. and Ireland while also exploring other markets in Europe and in Asia.
Across the world, Enterprise Ireland’s global teams are connecting the world’s most dynamic companies with the transformative Irish technology they need to compete and grow. We know where innovation lives. Let us connect you to it.
We recently interviewed Ariel Timothy, Chief Strategy Officer for Aryza. Aryza is a pioneering technology company that work with our customers and partners to create and deliver solutions that improve the financial health and achieve their financial goals.
Ariel discusses the massive opportunity for the company in Australia which was highlighted during COVID. He notes what is absent within the market and how Aryza can help with communication between businesses and consumers..
To watch the full video please see below:
Enterprise Ireland were delighted to support the largest contingent of Irish Fintechs to have ever attended Intersekt in September. Intersekt is the premier Fintech event in Oceania and attracts over 1,000 participants from the Financial Services and Fintech sectors to the event which is held at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne. In total six Irish companies participated, five of whom shared their world class insights and experiences in panel or fireside discussions:
Swoop CEO Andrea Reynolds, who flew in from the United Kingdom, opened the event with a fireside discussion with one of Australia’s most influential and respected Fintech advisors in Dr Dimitrios Salampasis. Andrea shared great insights around the current funding landscape and advice for SMEs and founders on accessing funding on a global perspective.
Transfermate, who provide B2B Global payments infrastructure for Banks, Fintech and Software providers and were recently crowned as Ireland’s newest Fintech unicorn participated in a panel which focused on global first approach to building a Fintech. Led by their APAC Director Vijay Rao the panel delved into considerations for new market entry including building culture, brand, and relationships and which also analysed the need for significant focus on market research, competitive analysis, and localisation of pricing strategy.
Wayflyer led by Stephen Duke, Head of Marketing and Growth for the firm who has grown the Australian business from one employee to over thirty in two years provided rich insights around the considerations from a lending technology and culture perspective in a panel of SME companies which included large Australian SME Challenger Bank Judo. The most compelling insight from Wayflyer was simple – ‘stick to your brew’ which referenced Amazon Jeff Bezos reference to a strategic focus on excellence in a primary function for the business before expanding to different products or markets
Fenergo, who have a well-established Australian presence, currently employing over 130 people across their Melbourne and Sydney offices joined Deborah Young from Regtech Association in a discussion around Regtech. Led by their ANZ Sales Director, Eoin Keating the discussion delved into the shifting landscape of the Regtech industry. The panel explored the need to personalise solutions and drive more effective customer experience outcomes for users in order maximise returns for clients, whilst for Regtech companies their ability to differentiate is based on an ability to also provide trusted advice and support.
One of the newest Fintechs into the Australian market is credit and debt solutions management company Aryza, who were led by their Chief Strategy Officer Ariel Timothy in a panel discussion on Embedded Finance. Aryza’s ‘end to end’ solution has a particular strength in the collections journey and Ariel provided insights around the changing landscape, and recognition of the important role that technology companies can play in supporting clients from a financial education and inclusion perspective.
Outside of Intersekt, the teams also participated in many other events, aimed at supporting with potential buyer engagement. Enterprise Ireland facilitated multiple show-case style events with leading organisations Grant Thornton, Pitcher Partners in the Accounting Advisory space, Australia’s largest Broker Aggregator Loan Market, and the largest Australian Bank for SMEs in National Australia Bank. During these events, clients pitched directly to key decision makers in a ‘shark tank’ style format. Positively there were several potential partnership opportunities identified, and future collaboration between Enterprise Ireland and each of the organisations is also highly likely.
To close the week, client companies also participated in an informative event with Invest Victoria at their offices in Melbourne, where Enterprise Ireland’s newly appointed Advisory panel member Brad Gofman led a panel discussion which included Victorian Government’s John Bailey, and Antony Burrows who leads NAB’s Innovation division to discuss the Victorian Fintech ecosystem, investment, partnering and talent amongst many other key themes.
Overall, the week provided a great opportunity for our clients to collaborate across the Australian ecosystem, connect with potential buyers and partners, and highlight Irish Fintech capability. Irish Fintech continues to go from strength to strength in the Australian market with strong year on year growth and employment hitting unprecedented levels. Enterprise Ireland support for participation at events like Intersekt is another great example of how the team are working with clients to drive brand awareness and commercial opportunity. We look forward to participating at next year’s event with the intention to have even stronger levels of participation!
We were delighted to see a number of Irish companies physically visiting our local market during the month of September. One such company was Origina, who presented, in person, to our Sydney and Melbourne advisory panels. Origina is a third party software maintenance services provider specializing in IBM software. With customers like NAB, CBA and BHP already in Australia, they used this visit to increase awareness of their offering locally while getting some valuable insights from our panel members. While here Origina also had a great few days at the Gartner Symposium on the Gold Coast where CEO, Tomás O’Leary, spoke to a packed room of interested local stakeholders.
Enterprise Ireland, in conjunction with the Embassy of Ireland, also hosted a lunch in the Ambassador’s residence for Origina where Tomás and team had the opportunity to interact with CIO’s and senior stakeholders from numerous Federal Government agencies. Overall a great trip and an excellent sign of normal business being resumed with Irish CEO’s spending much more time in this market.
One of the newly crowned Irish unicorns (start-ups with a >$1bn valuation) in the Fintech space – Transfermate – added Bank Australia to their local customer list. After looking far and wide for a payments platform to seamlessly integrate with their SAP Concur Accounts Payable system, Bank Australia chose Transfermate’s world leading global payments infrastructure as-a-service.
Transfermate has been working with Australian SME’s & banks since 2017 to better enable international B2B payments and receivables transactions. A wonderful example of Irish innovation quietly solving some of business’ major pain points globally.
To read more, click here
We were delighted to see that Zai were award winners at last month’s Fintech Australia ‘Finnies’ Awards which recognizes the best of Australian Fintech’s.
The team were successful in winning the ‘Deal of the Year’ award which recognized last year’s merger of Australian owned Assembly Payments, whose platform automates complex payments workflows, and Irish company CurrencyFair, a global cross-border payments platform.
The company is focusing its mid-market and enterprise-level offering initially on the Australian market, where its Assembly Payments customer base gives it a strong foothold, while in parallel ramping up its capability to launch in the UK, USA and Asia in 2022 and with the number of employees expected to grow from 170 currently to 450 by 2025.
Well done to all of the team!
Enterprise Ireland showcased Irish innovation at SLUSH, a global-leading event for start-ups and the largest of its kind in the Nordics, which took place in December 2021 in Helsinki.
Due to the pandemic, Slush 2020 could not go ahead and a series of virtual events were instead put in place. Thus, in 2021 there was huge excitement to attend the event, which was held at a reduced capacity.
The Nordics team were lucky to be joined by 6 Irish companies as well as Minister Robert Troy. Minister Troy opened our attendance at the event with a reception at Ambassador Ruth Parkin’s residence in Helsinki. The reception brought together the Irish business community in Finland.
Minister Troy also visited Meneva, a Finnish taxi company, who deploy Enterprise Ireland client iCabbi’s taxi dispatch software.
Finally, before departing, the Minister accompanied us to Slush. He saw the IRELAND@SLUSH stand and was given a tour of the largest gathering of venture capital on the planet. Slush is renowned for it’s unique aesthetic and the pictures and videos below capture Minister Troy’s visit to Helsinki.
Enterprise Ireland at SLUSH 2021, Helsinki – YouTube
Minister Robert Troy attends SLUSH 2021, Helsinki – YouTube
Dee Coakley from Boundless at SLUSH 2021, Helsinki – YouTube
Gerard Carton from PlantQuest at SLUSH 2021, Helsinki – YouTube
Enterprise Ireland’s Hugh McCarthy at SLUSH 2021, Helsinki – YouTube
Enterprise Ireland will lead a delegation of 6 companies to Slush in Helsinki.
Slush is Northern Europe’s largest start up conference, bringing together the most influential players in the European Ecosystem and beyond.
Take a look at our company profiles at the link below.
Irish government supported company Swoop works with over 1,000 providers to help small and medium size businesses access funding;
Following success in the UK, Ireland, and Australia, business funding and savings platform Swoop is now available in Canada. The company, which is backed by Enterprise Ireland, enables businesses to easily discover the right funding solutions for their needs. Swoop’s advanced algorithm analyzes capital opportunities available to companies across loans, equity and grants, and matches them with relevant funding solutions – simplifying and speeding up access to finance for a business.
“Swoop is more than just a technology, it is a pathway to capital. Finding the right funding solution can be a daunting and complex process for companies seeking to grow, so our platform and our team are ready to help guide and manage a company’s application,” said Daire Burke, Head of Canada, Swoop. “We’re very excited to now offer Swoop to the Canadian market. It has proven successful in Australia, the UK, and Ireland, and we are confident that it will become an invaluable tool for Canadian companies looking to raise and save money.”
The Swoop platform works with more than 1,000 funding providers from mainstream banks, alternative lenders, venture capital funds, angel investors, and grant agencies to save business owners time in researching funding opportunities. Instead, they are provided with a personalized list of funding providers to choose from. The platform provides users with a centralized location for all of the financial resources, information, and advice they need right at their front door.
“Swoop is a fast-growing finance solution that enables small and medium-sized businesses to access funding that is critical to their growth and success,” said Kevin O’Donnell, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Ireland. “Launched in the UK and Ireland in 2018, Swoop is an extraordinary example of an Irish company that has dominated the financial sector in international markets. The company saw a gap in the market for a consolidated open banking and funding reference provider in Canada and together we’ve been able to develop the partnerships needed for it to successfully service businesses throughout the country.”
Aside from its funding services, Swoop also assists companies in the search to find saving opportunities through its open banking technology which enables firms to see potential savings and switch their expenditure on banking, foreign exchange, utilities, and insurance. Guidance is provided for, among other things, business current accounts, international payments, energy, bad debt protection and recovery, and insurance. Swoop was named in the ‘Hot Ten’ list for the Global Fintech 50 for 2019.
To find out more about Swoop’s services: https://swoopfunding.com/ca/
Every year more than 600,000 international students travel to Canada to continue their studies in higher education. When planning a move to Canada as a foreign student, tax organization is key – this is where Sprintax comes in. Sprintax specifically caters to the more than two million non-residents visiting North America each year to live, work, and study. Sprintax also partners with universities and employers to ensure non-resident employees, students, and scholars are taxed correctly on income earned. With the support of Enterprise Ireland, Sprintax partners with eight of the top 10 universities in the United States.
“Sprintax is a unique SaaS solution,” says Sprintax Commercial Director, Joanna Murphy. “Today, we are proud to report that our solution supports non-residents in Canada as well as the US with every tax requirement they may have and ensures full compliance with their tax obligations.”
Sprintax Canada offers the only online self-preparation software for non-resident Canadian tax return preparation. To access their completed, fully compliant tax return, students complete a short questionnaire, answering questions about their income, deductions, and eligible tuition expenses. After questionnaire completion, the Sprintax software automatically generates ready to download tax forms. Users are also guaranteed to receive their maximum Canadian tax refund, as the software ensures the claim of any qualifying federal and provincial tax relief deductions.
“It’s clear that Sprintax is a unique solution and there is simply no other product like it on the market,” says Shaun Ryan, Market Executive – Canada, Enterprise Ireland. “It is fantastic to see such innovation and global ambition displayed by an Irish company. Sprintax Canada is a textbook example of how much can be achieved when Irish entrepreneurial minds come together.”
Sprintax Canada also generates complete federal and provincial tax and employment documents (including Federal TD1, Provincial TD1, TP-1015.3-V forms, and more). With Sprintax, payroll departments can easily manage the tax profiles of their international employees all in one place through a user-friendly dashboard.
Sprintax Canada determines tax residency status, calculates the correct income tax withholding for each non-resident and outlines whether they are eligible for any tax treaties or deductions.
The software is the brainchild of Terry Clune and part of the Clune Technology Group (formerly the Taxback Group) – an organization headquartered in Ireland, employing over 1,500 staff members across 33 countries around the world. Clune Technology Group is the parent company to Ireland’s most successful and groundbreaking Fintech brands including TransferMate Global Payments, Immedis, Taxback International, and Taxback.com.
Sprintax’s North American operations are led by Vice President Enda Kelleher. Based in the company’s New York City office, Kelleher leads the Sprintax team all over the US and Canada to speak with staff and students at universities and trade shows – offering workshops, webinars, and demos on US and Canadian taxes for non-residents.
“We are all incredibly proud of Sprintax,” Kelleher continues. “To date we have partnered with eight of the top 10 universities in the US – this is an outstanding achievement. Our expectation is that our product will continue to go from strength to strength in the coming years and exhibit the same phenomenal patterns of growth in Canada that the company has already displayed. We are excited about the prospect of spreading our wings and developing even further in Canada.”
In the past, tax organization has always been a headache for the 600,000 students new to North America. Sprintax has recognized that issue and provides a simple and comprehensive solution to non-resident students as the software caters directly to their tax needs.
With the FinTech sector’s recent boom in the UAE and across the wider region, Irish start-up DX Compliance launched its operations in the Middle East from its new base in the UAE. The Dublin-headquartered company is fast becoming one to watch in the global RegTech space where its operations have expanded into five international markets.
Operating out of the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi, DX introduced its disruptive technology and solutions to the rapidly expanding financial market. Working with banks and FinTech companies, DX Compliance invented AI-enabled anti-financial crime and compliance software solutions with easy to use features and top-of-the-line capabilities to effectively identify and manage regulatory and financial risks.
“With UAE topping the list of countries in the Middle East with the highest number of financial technology start-ups, we knew this would be the best market for us to begin our journey from. After successfully launching in the UAE and securing a place in the two biggest start-up accelerator hubs in the UAE, we are looking to expand our offer into the wider MENA region. This move will create several R&D jobs in Ireland where DX puts a high focus in hiring young talent. Following through our milestones achieved, we continue to help our customers benefit from the unique insights of our proprietary machine learning capabilities and user focused approach” said Simon Dix, CEO & Founder of DX Compliance.
The move to the region has been supported by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government’s trade and innovation agency. Their involvement has contributed to the successful expansion of DX Compliance into the Middle East market. This includes the Dubai International Financial Center’s (DIFC) FinTech Hive as well as Abu Dhabi Global Market’s (ADGM) Hub71.
Welcoming DX Compliance to the region, Stephen Twomey, Enterprise Ireland’s Senior Market Advisor said, “The FinTech scene across the Middle East is ever evolving and fast emerging with plenty of opportunities for growth and innovation. We’re delighted to see DX Compliance successfully launch in the UAE and become part of the UAE’s largest start-up accelerators, making it the very first Enterprise Ireland backed FinTech start-up to secure a position at Hub 71 and DIFC’s FinTech Hive. Irish FinTech is well received in this region for its ground-breaking innovation, technology and ability to overcome challenges.”
Daniel Dorr, Co-Founder of DX Compliance said “The support we gain from Enterprise Ireland along with our collaborations with Universities in Abu Dhabi and Dublin opens doors for more growth and employment during unprecedented times. The collaboration between our two offices which represent two ecosystems, will help us expand our company and portfolio at a rapid level leading to more job opportunities and delivering value back into our respective ecosystems”.
“Our expansion into the UAE comes as we have just launched DX Version 2.0, our latest version of our transaction monitoring software, which takes the fight against financial crime to a whole new level. Our new and improved features enable banks, FinTech firms and other providers of financial services to effectively identify and manage their regulatory and financial risks, lower operational costs and focus their attention on their revenue drivers with a peace of mind”.
In addition to successfully launching in the UAE, DX Compliance has strengthened its leadership team by appointing two C-Suite titles. Razi Ardakani, financial compliance and FinTech expert, was appointed as Head of Growth and will lead the company’s expansion across the Middle East and drive global expansion strategies. Appointed as DX Compliance’s Chief Product Officer, Prem Ipe has over 15 years of experience leading data analytics teams. Prem was also previously nominated as one of the top 30 leaders in Australia.
DX Compliance has a successful track record in providing market-leading anti-financial crime products that offer insights into individuals’ and commercial entities’ financial behaviour. They generate value for their clients by uncovering suspicious transactions that usually go undetected by more traditional forms of anti-financial crime tools.
Considering DX Compliance’s expertise and journey of growth, the start-up was selected to be part of RegLab, the UAE’s specially tailored regulatory framework which provides a controlled environment for FinTech participants to develop and test innovative solutions.
