A Cambridge, United Kingdom-based artificial intelligence technology company aims to expand its presence in the U.S. market after opening a Houston office earlier this year.
Techspert.io connects business customers with experts for domain-specific industry insights. The company's AI platform analyzes billions of data points to identify relevant and quality subject matter experts. David Holden-White, co-founder and CEO of Techspert.io, said the company serves customers in health care, life sciences, private equity, consulting and other sectors seeking industry-specific expertise. Techspert is also starting to get into tech, media and telecom connections.
With over half of its customers and revenue base located in the U.S. market, it made sense for Techspert to hire employees stateside, Holden-White said. The technology firm already wanted to have U.S. workers available to support its customers in U.S. time zones. But Houston made sense for Techspert for a variety of reasons — it's a market with a sizable, educated engineering and energy talent base.
Having a presence in Houston will also aid the firm as it expands its services in the energy and industrial spaces. Techspert aims to provide expert connections for customers in oil and gas, renewables, transportation and logistics, and other industrial sectors.
"That's not really an avenue we've explored yet," said Holden-White. "When I go [to Houston] next year, that's something I'm interested in: How can we support energy companies in getting the expertise they need?"
Techspert made its first hire in Houston this spring and has since grown its local presence to four employees. Holden-White said the company is looking to expand that figure up to at least 20 next year as Techspert continues to add project managers in the Houston market.
Eliana Stetco was one of the first associates Techspert hired in the Houston market in April. Previously a research assistant at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, Stetco wanted to explore a transition into more of a leadership position. Now, she's working with Techspert's leadership to develop a growth strategy for the tech company's U.S. presence.
Stetco said joining a startup was an exciting departure for her after working most of her career in large companies. She also said the ability to join a tech startup like Techspert in the Houston market was a testament to the growth of the city's startup environment.
"It's just been a really incredible experience and opportunity to have a voice in the development of a company, company culture, company values and goals," Stetco said. "I really hope that it encourages people to possibly take that risk — I understand that it does feel risky to join a startup. But the potential for reward is so great."
Techspert is currently operating out of shared workspaces in Houston, but the company is considering establishing a more permanent physical presence as it continues to grow in the U.S., Holden-White said.
In early October, Techspert announced raising a $12 million investment round led by London-based BGF, one of the U.K. and Ireland's most active equity capital investors, and existing B2B software investor Nauta Capital, which has offices in London, Barcelona and Berlin.
"(The new funding) means we can accelerate our growth really fast," said Holden-White. "It means we can expand our operations in the U.S. — that is a big part of it — and it means we can expand our products and tech capabilities, as well."
