A Welsh software company is set to open a new base in Dubai early this year following a surge in demand for its solutions in the Middle East, thanks to support from the Welsh Government.
Aforza, which employs over 60 people across its Cardiff and London offices, specialises in cloud-based solutions for the consumer goods industry. The firm’s software is designed to help companies in the sector bring their products to market, enabling them to manage their promotions, sales and distribution via an app.
Since it was first set up over three years ago, Aforza has made a global name for itself, with exports accounting for over 75% of trade and the company operating in 26 countries across four continents, including North America, Europe, and Africa.
Following growing sales in the Middle East, including recent contracts in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai, the company has now set its sights on opening a permanent Dubai office.
The news comes as the company celebrates a key milestone; in December it was revealed that over $1 billion of sales orders have been transacted through Aforza’s platform following a surge in demand for its software overseas.
Andrew Keleher, Marketing Director at Aforza, said: “Exporting is a significant part of our business and has played a key role in our growth over the last few years. Aforza faced challenges during the pandemic that limited opportunities to travel, but with a digital cloud-based product, exports were an obvious choice for our expansion strategy.
“Demand for our services has surged, and we are now looking to Latin America and parts of Asia as key target regions to continue our export journey. Over three-quarters of our business is exports and we don’t see demand slowing down anytime soon.”
Founded in 2019 with support from the Welsh Government’s Economy Futures Fund, Aforza now has clients in 26 countries including South African-based beverage company, Distell, North American outdoor brand, Mountain Source and multinational brewery and pub chain, BrewDog, whose sales grew by 250% in one quarter after using Aforza’s solutions.
Aforza’s export success has been helped by support it has received from the Welsh Government including financial assistance to attend market visits and international exhibitions. The company recently attended one of the world’s largest food and drink trade shows, Gulfood, in Dubai, where it met with potential customers helping it to build its future sales pipelines.
The company has also received information and support from specialist advisers on trading at a local level within target regions such as Spain and Saudi Arabia.
Andrew added: “Despite offering a digital product, meeting with prospective clients in person is essential to growing our company and securing contracts, especially when it comes to working with customers from different countries. The face-to-face opportunities that have been facilitated by the Welsh Government, particularly international trade exhibitions, have been invaluable to our growth, directly leading to new business.
“We were assigned a specialist trade advisor to support our export journey, who was constantly on the lookout for global opportunities for our business. They also helped us to get a better understanding of how our target markets operate and how to effectively enter them, which has played a large role in our successful expansion.”
