How can digital trade boost SME growth? NovaFori x techUK

NovaFori is the first of January's SME Member of the Week.

NovaFori is the first of January's SME Member of the Week. This month, techUK are focused on digital trade and are showcasing SME member's who have tapped into overseas export opportunities and taken advantage of the UK’s trading partnerships worldwide to successfully export their product or service in international markets.

NovaFori provides auction and trading solutions, powered by data science using machine learning algorithms to build and grow your market.

How did your company start?

NovaFori was founded as Perfect Channel in 2011, with a mission to digitize physical trading and embed Data Science in business decision making. Our first major client, Christie’s the global Auction House, originally favoured physical auctions over digital auctions, doing 90% of their business face-to-face.

Since 2020, we have grown their share of on-line trading by 60% by delivering a robust, secure, digital auction experience. Our technology has been battle tested not just in fine art and collectibles, but in industries as diverse as insurance, mobility, commodities and shipping.

Under new management, Perfect Channel re-branded to NovaFori in 2021 and has since added new clients and doubled revenues.

How does your company contribute to this month's theme?

NovaFori has contributed to the digitization of international trade by delivering marketplace and auction technology, augmented with Data Science, fully cloud hosted, in regions as diverse as mainland Europe, Asia and North America. Our clients enjoy the ability to use our platform to attract business both domestically and internationally.

Who's behind your company?

Garry Jones - Chief Executive Officer: 35 years of experience in finance and technology. CEO of the London Metal Exchange, CEO of The London Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) and Global Head of Derivatives for NYSE Euronext.

Phil Bird - Executive Director: Phil is founder of Perfect Channel, using his technical project delivery experience to drive thought leadership and strategy in the delivery of digital transformation in complex international B2B marketplaces.

John Lee - Chief Information Officer: With 30 years of experience in technology within Financial Services, John has served as Group CTO at the London Metal Exchange, CIO at PayPoint PLC, Global Head of PMO at NYSE Group and Director of Systems Development at the London Financial Futures Exchange.

Paul MacGregor - Head of Sales and Marketing: Paul has a business career spanning 30 years where he has built and ran sales and marketing teams in Broking, Commodities, Fixed Income and Technology, holding senior roles at NYSE LIFFE, the London Metal Exchange, ION Trading and Britannia Global Markets.

Brittany Boles - Senior Sales & Business Development Executive: Brittany's background is in business development, joining from Citi Private Bank, and currently driving sales and marketing approach forward in addition to account management.

Will Burton - Head of Product Innovation, Data Science: Will has a 20 year career specialising in ground-up product development. His software product experience spans defence (Thales & L3 Communications), fintech (Ecospend) and big data.

Spencer Knightsbridge - Head of Delivery: Spencer is a Technology & Change executive with a background in managing large, complex IT change portfolios across exchange traded derivatives, trade connectivity, post trade and regulatory reporting.

Elissa Wood - Programme Manager: Extensive experience leading project teams to deliver global technology programmes relating to client, sales and marketing, employee collaboration and business intelligence IT solutions.

Danielle Downs - Head of Product, NextGen: Originally from a business analyst background, Danielle brings over 10 years experience in product management, working with development teams, stakeholders and clients to deliver business value through market leading digital products and customer experiences.

What’s your perspective on the present and the future of this month's theme?

We believe the digitization of international trade is in its infancy. Many companies and  industries still employ analogue methodologies for both their internal processes and how they interact with their clients. Our technology is designed to enhance existing processes, lower the costs of trading and enable smarter decision making via the use of Data Science.

Recent Success

In 2022 we are proud to have launched Climate Impact X (CIX) marketplace and auctions platform for curated, independently verified, nature-based carbon credits. CIX is a consortium founded by Temasek, Singapore Exchange (SGX), DBS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. CIX approached NovaFori in 2021 with a vision of creating a credible marketplace and auctions platform where corporates could genuinely offset their carbon footprint on their journey to net zero. CIX marketplace and auction platform is hosted in Singapore.  

Climate Impact X (CIX) marketplace marketplace platform to mitigate the impact of climate change

What does the future look like for your company?

We are focused on continually delivering value for our clients by building innovative solutions driven by Data Science. In 2022 we have launched AutoPrice, a data-driven price estimation tool for on-line dealers in the automotive market and we are currently targeting German car dealers offering them a more profitable way of doing business.

In 2023 we will launch our Next Generation trading platform, a totally scalable cloud-based trading and auction platform with multiple trading models, built on a flexible and secure suite of microservices. Our Next Generation platform will be accessable from AWS regions in North America, Europe and Asia.

Asks for other members 

We are keen to talk with other members about Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, specifically to discuss use cases across different industries, and how they are shaping the future!

Sign up

Subscribe to receive our blogs, white papers 
and media articles.

Share this content