's-Hertogenbosch. That has recently become the new home base of WeGroup NL, the Dutch arm of the Belgian insurance-technology company WeGroup. With the new location, the company, originally from Ghent, hopes for rapid growth with our northern neighbours. It is no stranger to this: after France, the United Kingdom and Cyprus, among others, the Netherlands is no less than the fifth foreign market WeGroup enters. The expectations for the Netherlands are enormous, say CEO Arvid De Coster and NL Country Manager Arjuna Bosch. We spoke with them to shed light on the brand-new international expansion.
Arvid, what brings WeGroup to the Netherlands?
Arvid: "The Netherlands has a very interesting insurance market that is, in many respects, quite similar to our Belgian home market. You find roughly as many independent intermediaries there, handling more or less the same processes. The difference, however, is that Dutch advisors experience a lot more competition on personal lines from direct providers and digital distributors. We believe that, thanks to our technology, advisors can not only work more efficiently or achieve more growth, but also respond better to the digital needs of their customers."
For many Flemish companies the Netherlands is the first international step. For WeGroup it comes only after several other markets. Why the hesitation? Is now the best moment?
Arvid: "WeGroup has always been strongly focused on internationalisation. With an international expansion, however, a lot is involved. We therefore found it logical to first aim at large markets such as France or Poland. In the meantime, our product has evolved so far that we can scale to another geography with a minimum of resources. So it is now a great deal easier to serve other European markets too, without losing focus. In addition, we have always let ourselves be guided by the opportunities on our path. We always launch in markets together with one or more 'launching customers', so that we can realise growth from the start. When demand from the Netherlands started rising sharply, we decided to seize those opportunities."
Arjuna, you were appointed NL Country Manager, and you are also the first team member of WeGroup NL. What exactly does your assignment look like?
Arjuna: "Yes, NL Country Manager, quite something! (laughs) The first phase of my assignment mainly consisted of opening the right doors in the Netherlands. Thanks to my experience in the insurance market, we were able to find a few 'first believers' from different market segments fairly quickly, and we managed to make connections with existing software parties at speed. Besides developing new collaborations, I am also busy recruiting the first colleagues in the Netherlands and setting up various internal processes."
You are choosing to open a physical office, in an era where remote work seems to be becoming the norm. Why that choice?
Arjuna: "Correct! We have indeed decided to go for a physical office. We don't see the office as a fixed workplace, though, but rather as a meeting place for the NL team and an environment to receive customers. With that in mind, we also chose Den Bosch ('s-Hertogenbosch, ed.), instead of, say, Amsterdam or The Hague. We opted for a central location that is also easily reachable from Belgium. That way we can set up good collaboration with the colleagues in Ghent. One big family!"
What are the prospects for WeGroup NL?
Arjuna: "The first big step is, of course, our official launch on 15 February! We are currently working hard on processing the feedback from our launch group, so that we put a rock-solid product on the market from day one. From then on, the sky is the limit. By the end of 2022 we want to serve around a hundred Dutch advisory offices with our platform. In addition, we have a clear focus on closed partnerships, brand awareness and the general role of WeGroup in the Dutch market. The ambitions are high."
Arvid adds: "From an international perspective, it is important for WeGroup to prove in the Netherlands that we can launch our product in a scalable way, quickly and with an efficient use of the available resources, in smaller European markets. At the same time, we believe enormously in the market potential, so it will be our task to attract the right local talent to tap that potential and replicate our success in other markets. Or better still, even surpass it."
Thank you, gentlemen, and we wish you the very best of luck in the Netherlands!
