With his sharp analytical skills and commercial awareness, Lawyer Zain has advised large multinational media, sports, and technology companies on how to protect their brands and creative content. Armed with his experience and knowledge, Zain set about advising startups and scaleups, revealing the same challenges time after time, inspiring him to start Centuro Global with his Co-founder and fellow lawyer, Asma Bashir.

Can you tell me about your background and how Centuro Global fits into this?

I'm a lawyer by background, and my journey with Centuro Global has its roots in my early experiences at an international law firm. It began back in 2012 when I joined the firm on a vacation scheme whilst still studying. During that time, I was assigned a case involving an overseas company looking to launch a taxi ride-sharing mobile application in London. This was a time when smartphones were just starting to gain popularity, and the concept of gig workers and marketplace mobile apps was relatively new and unexplored.

As I delved into the case, I realised that there were numerous complexities involved in international expansion, not just within law, but also beyond. Entity setup, visas, tax regulations, international payments—these were just a few of the many factors that companies needed to consider. Our law firm had to collaborate with other firms that the client had already engaged, leading to a fragmented and often chaotic process. Miscommunication and difficulties in obtaining necessary information became recurring hurdles.

Upon transitioning into a full-time lawyer, I found myself managing various international projects for prominent clients. However, regardless of the client's size or industry, the challenges remained the same when it came to working on cross border matters with global providers. I became the middleman, juggling advice from different firms worldwide and attempting to communicate it coherently to the client. The process was not only confusing and inefficient but also incredibly expensive.

Recognising the need for a streamlined solution, my Co-Founder and I decided to establish Centuro Global. Our vision was to address these issues within a single platform, revolutionising the way businesses navigate international expansion. We aimed to create a centralised hub that eliminates the disjointed nature of working with multiple providers, enhances communication, and drives efficiency and cost-effectiveness for companies venturing into global markets.

What does Centuro Global do?

At Centuro Global, we strive to empower businesses by providing them with a suite of tools and services. By leveraging technology, generative AI and machine learning, we bring together legal, immigration, tax, entity setup, and other crucial aspects of international expansion onto a unified platform.

One of the main problems we're addressing at Centuro Global is the high failure rate of new market entries. According to McKinsey, a staggering 80% of such ventures fail due to compliance and regulatory issues. Drawing from my own firsthand experience with global expansion challenges, I was driven to find a better way of approaching this to ensure greater ease in globalisation.

Our platform offers a three-step process to guide businesses through successful cross-border ventures. Firstly, we provide businesses with the vital knowledge they need to understand how to navigate cross-border business effectively. Secondly, we understand the importance of working with local, trusted experts for various services required during international expansion. Lastly, managing global operations, multiple vendors and service lines can be a logistical nightmare. To address this, we have developed a centralised dashboard and case management system.

What is the importance of this technology?

Traditional methods often result in complexity, slow processes, and high costs and advice provided is not always commercially focused. However, with the development of our technology and generative AI, we can now introduce unprecedented efficiencies and transform the landscape of professional services.

One critical problem that this technology addresses is the challenge of compliance during new market entries. The advent of technology that offers tailored, bespoke advice has the potential to be a game-changer in this regard.

When supporting clients with global projects, time is of the essence when relocating staff to work on these initiatives. Our system not only tracks visa applications but also employs predictive analytics to inform employers of more accurate timelines for obtaining visas, based on previous cases. This capability assists in determining realistic start dates and enables businesses to make more informed decisions.

In essence, this technology streamlines the complexities of cross-border services, saving businesses valuable time, resources, and money. By alleviating administrative burdens and providing real-time insights, companies can focus their efforts on delivering successful operations and investments rather than being consumed by intricate compliance and regulatory requirements.

Could you tell me about the technology involved?

Centuro Global is an AI powered SaaS platform that ensures a company’s global expansion needs are serviced compliantly in one place. We use AI to determine which visa and work permits are required for a person based on factors such as how long they will travel and where they will be paid.

The platform harnesses advanced technology, including AI, to offer a comprehensive global expansion solution. Our AI-powered SaaS platform enables companies to manage their international expansion needs efficiently and in compliance with regulations, all in one centralised place.

How many are on your team and how have you grown to where you are today?

Since our product launch in January 2022, our team has experienced significant growth. Initially starting with 8 members, we have tripled our team size to a total of 24 individuals within this 18-month period.

The growth we have achieved has been remarkable with Q1 and 2 of 2023 resulting in over 1000 visas processed, and entities setup in over 100 countries via our platform. Our early adopters played a crucial role by providing valuable feedback and support, allowing us to quickly iterate and enhance our platform based on their needs. Their input has been instrumental in making substantial progress and ensuring the robustness of our solution.

How do you differentiate from your competitors?

What sets us apart from our competitors is our holistic approach to global expansion. We have created an ecosystem that consolidates all the necessary cross border services under one comprehensive tech solution. This differentiates us in the market as very few providers have tech and offer traditional solutions. Secondly, companies that do have technology only focus on one service line.

Our aim is to redefine the industry by offering a complete suite of services that address the complexities of global expansion. Rather than seeking multiple providers for different services, businesses can use Centuro Global to handle everything.

What has the funding process and journey been like?

We recently raised £3.3 million in funding having previously bootstrapped the business. Given we are building a unique product bridging services with technology we didn’t originally have plans to fundraise but after significant traction last year we sensed a huge market opportunity. Fundraising was the key to help us continue with our goals for rapid growth, maintain momentum and deliver a world class service.

I looked to identify venture capital funds who supported the future of work and attended as many events as I could where investors may be. The key was to find funding from investors who aligned with our vision, culture and ethos rather than just accept money from anyone.

Given the complexity of what we offer and the services element some investors struggled to initially get to grips with the offering, which was a challenge and it took a few attempts to really refine the pitch to make it very clear. Once this was rectified, we got good momentum and progressed discussions with a number of VCs.

Fortunately, we managed to secure funding with like-minded people which is crucial as we want those invested in us to truly believe in the benefits of our business and the direction we’re heading in.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

We are building a new category/ industry and trying to change the way people have been consuming services and undertaking global business for decades, if not centuries. When people are embedded to a certain way of doing things it can be hard to instil change.

This means a longer sales cycle, with time needed for education and having to convince multiple stakeholders within an organisation. In the world of startups and whilst trying to build a high growth business, there is little time to wait.

We therefore have had to spend time with a small team nurturing large enterprises, trying to reduce the lengthy sales cycle and supplement this by onboarding scaleups and SMEs with global needs.

Once we got the initial momentum and user base, the growth really picked up and the hard groundwork paid off.

What has been a highlight so far?

My highlight so far has been the sheer exposure I’ve had to global businesses, partners, clients and the team that I have been building. I love travelling, meeting people from different cultures and trying to grow as a person and building this company has enabled me to travel the world, learn from the brightest minds, get out of my comfort zone and gain all sorts of new experiences from public speaking, being invited to give a TedX Talk, onto numerous podcasts, and manage a delightful and device team of dedicated professionals.