UK-based AI scaleup Centuro Global has secured £3.3 million in pre-Series A funding to create a new ‘global expansion’ industry empowering businesses to rapidly expand into new markets without the need for expensive consultancy services. The funding came from Mercia Asset Management after a year which had seen Centuro Global experience exponential growth.
The funding will support further expansion of the platform, growing its customer base and further developing its AI-powered solutions. The company has also appointed a new chair, veteran B2B technology entrepreneur Bill Flind.
Cutting through the immigration red tape
Businesses expanding internationally can easily get tied up in the red tape that comes with multinational employment. The Centuro helps make scaling up internationally simple by providing insights to help navigate the complexities of tax, immigration, and entity set-up in a single, easy-to-use platform.
Until now, international expansion would entail the use of costly consultancies. Centuro has replaced all that with its proprietary system. Users can simply input their requirements, like the worker’s home and host nation, the length of their stay and where they are being paid. Centuro then provides all the relevant details, such as visa requirements, even down to providing application guidance and a timeline.
The platform also offers generative AI, allowing free-text queries which are answered using Centuro’s database covering 170 countries. It means that users are fully equipped with information from the legal requirements, through to cost-of-living differences, and even the pros and cons of launching in particular markets. They plan to add more features later this year, including a work-from-anywhere tool that will help companies handle the often unanticipated problems that are created by having an increasingly international workforce.
Creating a new industry of global expansion
Founders Asma Bashir and Zain Ali had a background in immigration and global law and came together to produce a platform that helps businesses achieve end-to-end compliance for their growing businesses. They see Centuro as creating a new market. “We’re encouraging investors and clients to think of this as a dynamic new industry,” said Ali. “It’s global expansion as a service; a new market we expect to grow rapidly.”
Mercia’s Adam Watts noted its potential. “The company has grown revenues rapidly since launching its platform last year,” he said, “and we believe it has huge potential to establish itself as a category leader in this space.”
Ali sees the funding as not just supporting Centuro. “We’re giving ambitious businesses a simple solution that saves them time and money, reduces compliance risks and helps them win in new markets and in the war for global talent,” he said. And by removing the barriers created by complex immigration and tax laws, as well as hefty consultancy fees, Ali believes Centuro is supporting wider economic growth. “We’re helping to create new jobs and share wealth globally by making it simple for businesses to sell, employ and expand wherever they want.”
