A first-of-its-kind hybrid event matching some of the most exciting start-ups and small businesses in north Wales with investors looking for their next big deal, Business News Wales are joining forces with Menai Science Park, GlobalWelsh and other for Den y Dreigiau – a major Angel and Seed-funding Pitching event.

Eight companies developing forward-thinking solutions in a range of vital sectors from health to artificial intelligence to marine biology and much more will be pitching for between £300k-£1.5M to investors and investor groups from across the UK and beyond, including the Development Bank of Wales, the GlobalWelsh investment network, GS Verde Investment Network and more.

Haia are one of the pitching companies. Read on to find out more about their company and their aspirations for the event from Co-Founder Tom Burke.

Who are Haia and what does your business do?

Haia is about enabling simple, real and positive human connections and communication at online and hybrid events. Haia makes virtual events easy and boosts engagement. We stand out because our technology is led by user needs and experiences. Our tagline says it all: Haia, say hello to the world.

When was Haia founded and what have been your major milestones so far?

Founded in August 2020 by Tom Burke and Andy Esser, Haia was started as a major Innovate UK project, securing £425,000 to build the Beta version of Haia and developing language technology with Bangor University. We’ve launched he beta now with launch to sales imminent though we have already had a number of pre-launch customers, we're in a seed round of investment for £500K with a portion of that already pledged, we were finalists in the Wales Start-up Awards. We have hundreds of registered users already, with many great customers ready to approach as we launch to sales.

As a business owner, why did you decide to establish your business in Wales?

Firstly, it's home; family and friends are here and really, why would you want to be anywhere else – it's stunning and friendly! We all want Wales to compete and be known not only for its beauty and culture, but for its innovation and technology, North Wales is becoming a hotspot for tech now and we're incredibly proud to be part of that. The region needs more technology businesses to be sustainable and we have to be prepared to make them work here – that's a big reason we didn't go to one of the big cities to start Haia. It's also the perfect place to get quality of life whilst creating the future of online and hybrid event platforms!

What about M-SParc attracted you to become a tenant there?

M-SParc is a perfect fit for us, the team and attitude are what really make it work, it helps to have the amazing building and views too of course, but without the drive and alignment of goals we share it would just be a great looking place to start instead of a great place to start a business. What really makes a difference for us is the willingness of the team here to get involved and help seek opportunities, rarely a week goes by without a few useful pointers or introductions, add to that the events and opportunities they bring and it's a recipe for success.

Where do you see Haia in five years’ time?

Haia will be a globally recognised virtual and hybrid events platform, we'll have a large and diverse team, a big turnover and lots of innovation. At this point we will be well into our journey and looking to expand IP from research and development activities into new products, we will have a number of big strategic partners and our investors will have been able to exit with a great return on their investment.

Explain what being involved in Den y Dreigiau means for you and your business?

It's a fantastic opportunity to reach out to investors who have a genuine interest in what is going on in Wales and are looking to invest in something home grown with huge growth potential, like Haia. We'll be pitching in front of up to 100 investors, with the odds being that some of them will have experience in our industry and want to join our journey at the perfect time to help us scale, get the message out there and (whilst Haia's shares are very competitve) get a piece of something that will have great returns later on.

What do you hope to achieve from the event and what support will you be looking for?

We want investment of course, but ideally we want to work with people who can help us and bring something to Haia, help drive it forward, either with advice, connections or ideas – we are looking for people with the same sort of drive as us and our values; inclusivity, a force for good, to be curious and create human connection.

Success at Den y Dreigiau will springboard us. We have a great 12-month strategy for this round of funding; just over half of the spend is on team growth, mainly engineers to further develop Haia and a sales team, with some key experience brought in – the next large chunk is on marketing activities – we need to get the word out there fast but at the same time with a solid strategy backed up with plenty of market research.

Where can we learn more about your business?

You can email me on [email protected] or visit our website www.haia.live