In a series looking at the risks and rewards of business, Hiscox Insurance, who sponsor the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table, asked Patrick Caiger-Smith, CEO and co-founder of geo, how he gambled with the unknown to create demand for a brand-new product in a brand-new market.
Patrick opened up about some of the challenges that nearly threatened the future of geo in the early days, and how geo have reached 12 years in business, developed 25 products and sold upwards of 5 million energy monitoring systems to date.
At a time when global warming was only just beginning to be recognised as a threat to life on this planet it was clear there needed to be a change to people’s attitudes to energy conservation and sustainability. These two key changes became the founding key drivers to the business.
As with most start-up business, Patrick recalled one of the biggest risks that geo had to take to get to the next level was funding. geo took on a big contract without having the funds to fulfil it, with a deadline looming, if geo had not obtained funding in time, the business would most likely not have progressed.
Despite the first contract being secured in the midst of a global financial crisis, geo became the first company in the UK to obtain a full-scale Government backed loan that secured the contract and took geo from strength to strength.
If you would like to read the article in full to find what obstacles that Patrick and geo had to overcome, please visit the Hisox website.
About Hiscox
Hiscox is the title sponsor of Tech Track 100 for a seventh year, having previously been a main sponsor for four years.
Hiscox is a global specialist insurer with offices in 14 countries, employing over 2,700 people worldwide.
Through its retail business, it offers extensive business insurance that’s finely tuned to the needs of over 150,000 UK SMEs, professionals and consultants, in addition to specialist home insurance cover for over 60,000 homes.
Hiscox designs profession-specific business insurance policies and has been protecting technology businesses for over 18 years resulting in a deep understanding of the unique risks facing entrepreneurs in the sector. From specialist cyber and data risk insurance to protect against digital threats, to cover against costly legal action, it offers tailored, flexible protection that’s specific to the needs of the individual business.
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