An insurtech leader excels in global market expansion by embracing adaptive transformation

Romil Turakhia

Head of Markets, Azentio Software

Candela Labs has an impressive business journey – could you make a short review of an amazing company history?

Created in 1996 as AWPL Ltd. by 4 entrepreneurs with a vision to create technology and platforms in the BPM space, the company exclusively focused on the insurance domain by the year 2000. Two years after releasing our first product suite in 2003, we established footprints in Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In the following years, we grew into new territories, including Africa, built more solutions driven by customer demand, and expanded our industry focus to banking.

In 2015-2016 the company went through a major transformation. We rebranded AWPL Ltd. to Candela Labs and put new emphasis on creating innovative IP-led products and solutions, and co-creating with clients in their focus markets. After solidifying our digital-first strategy with a new operating model, new sales approach, and new products that kept the end customer at the heart of it all, we launched our Intelligent Automation Fabric (IAF), in 2019, for Insurance that is based on open standards and integrates multiple improvement levers — digitalization, BPM, human-in-the-loop, RPA, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI).

2021 is an inspiring year with the launch of the ready-to-go SaaS suite of solutions under the brand Cloudflow (https://cloudflow.insure/). Recently the company got acquired by Azentio Software, a Singapore-based software products business, owned by Funds advised by Apax. That is a huge strategic step that boosts our future development as a larger organization, under the Azentio brand.

Outstanding indeed, given you started as a small private company just with a bold vision. Your key ingredient to success?

Success is a function of many factors. No miracles, no coincidences. If I am to share one ingredient, that would be our mindset for adaptive transformation.

Could you explain more?

On several occasions in our business journey, we had to reinvent ourselves due to customer or competitor imperatives, the need for digitalization, change in the market or technology.

When there is a need for change, you also need to be ready to change. Genuinely. It is rare to have the whole team embracing innovation with enthusiasm.

How do you keep your people engaged and committed to achieving the evolving company goals?

Clear vision, clear goals, exciting technology, timely recognition for achieved excellence, market relevance, genuine care for the success of our customers.

When it comes to market relevance, Candela Labs has achieved an impressive geographical expansion over the years, including first steps in North America, Latin America, and Europe.

After the expansion in Asia and Africa, based on the customer feedback and the real value delivered to clients on increased revenue, business processes optimization, digitalization, and automation, logically, we looked for new horizons.

And here comes CoMantis as one of your business developments partners?

The partnership with CoMantis came in a moment where we started seriously considering expansion to the European market. Establishing an office or hiring a dedicated team without testing the appetite and relevance of our solutions was out of the question.

The fastest and most efficient way forward was to engage with a European partner with a broad understanding of Western and Eastern Europe market particularities and having a solid professional network across mentioned territories.

What is your overall experience and how would you evaluate the journey with CoMantis?

First, engaging with CoMantis was excellent value for money. We got a broad scope of services, with performance that was overachieved, and cost us a very reasonable amount of money. Second, the team quickly grasped business specifics and was able to act as initial touch base in engaging with decision-makers, tailoring, and adapting to the cultural nuances. Finally, CoMantis used personal connections across their European network to get to conversations that helped us gain firsthand experience about the market specifics.

We continue the execution of our joint program and what is quite remarkable, is the clear, straightforward, and transparent approach CoMantis has. All are bound to concrete Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and tangible outcomes – each service is packaged as a comprehensive set of activities that lead to concrete deliverables.

So, from your experience and perception, what is the most valuable aspect of engaging with an external partner?

Hard to state a single thing. It is a complex value-driven relationship. This is how long-term partnerships are built. Mutual trust, transparency, open communication, commitment to quality, innovation, and meaningful outcomes. Also, flexibility and adaptability are paramount, as we need to be prepared to seize the window opportunities. An example is our new partnership in Latin America – the scope for CoMantis was Europe, but why not consider an additional region, when there is a possibility for working with a perfect-fit partner?

What is next in the context of your new role as Head of Markets at Azentio Software?

More than ever, the sky is the limit! With the cloud revolution in insurance, the flexibility and freedom insurers get from SaaS solutions, new horizons have been revealed. Our newly launched cloud platform Cloudflow would further democratize technology access for insurers. Despite the size of the company, any insurer could have access to top innovation, solid industry know-how, and proven business automation principles. That is quick and hassle-free access to cloud technology and digitalization, and this is our bet for the future.

Thank you for your kind words, Romil!

The Service

CandelaLabs chose Sales Advisory as a service provided by CoMantis Ltd.