Irish CRM specialist HubSpot enters SA to rejuvenate VC investment
Eoin McGuinness, head of startups and emerging markets at HubSpot.
Dublin-based CRM software provider HubSpot has announced entry into the South African market to grow its customer and partner network in Africa, as well as attract wary investors.
HubSpot is a multi-services platform that, along with diamond channel partner Spitfire Inbound in South Africa, offers businesses software solutions or hubs to help them with various disciplines including CRM, data and reporting, sales, inbound marketing, and lead generation.
The company has ten partners in South Africa, including Huble in Cape Town, as well as Spitfire Inbound and ML Agency in Johannesburg, which will help the business to scale.
HubSpot views South Africa as a key market and gateway into other countries on the continent.
It plans to expand into Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana, among others.
Eoin McGuinness, head of startups and emerging markets at HubSpot, said, “HubSpot is a piece of technology that’s built to help companies grow and scale faster. Our idea is to keep the customer at the centre of this world and have the technology that will give them the best possible experience. Secondary to this is how to make sure that people use the technology they want to use. So, we’ve a hub called the operations hub and the idea behind this is to build a connected system.”
This is a valuable tool for companies that already have software and other systems in place but are siloed and complex to manage. The operations hub enables them to centralise technology tools and resources in the HubSpot system.
This speaks to the company’s strategy to develop its channel with partners, but also increase its customer base.
McGuinness added that HubSpot’s growth strategy is based on three core metrics: the number of qualified leads (verification of HubSpot’s content and how that is working), the acquisition of people using the technology free of charge for a specific period, and the net new number of customers.
“We do have a customer goal (but) I am not privy to how much percentage we’re looking to grow on year-to-year right now. For my team it may be different, I manage bootstrapped, and VC backed companies, so for me it’s always about the acquisition point, how many net new customers can we bring in that are in that startup eco-space, and I am looking to grow on average between 200 and 300% year-on-year.”
McGuinness acknowledged the figures are ambitious targets, but he is adamant that Africa is rich with opportunity – especially for startup ventures that are willing to embrace technology.
He agreed that up until a year or two ago the continent was the darling of VC and angel investors, but this interest has since waned.
This is because of challenges including a lack of infrastructure, fluctuating currency exchange rates, difficult socio-economic and political conditions that together have put international investors off Africa.
The devaluation of the South African Rand added to concerns.
“There is so little funding that goes into South Africa and Africa from venture capitalists to help them accelerate growth, I am not just saying money, as in purely expertise. For me, one of the things I want to help African founders with is getting them in front of the right people, not just in South Africa, but also outside of South Africa to help them grow – whether it be funding, expertise or whatever.”
Asked if there is any truth to media reports that Google parent company Alphabet intends to acquire HubSpot, McGuinness quipped: “I know as much as you do about this, I don’t have any idea.”
