Leading US insurance agency taps into Northern Ireland talent to build first-of-its-kind tech platform - SimplyIOA.

Insurance Office of America (IOA) is an insurance agency that provides property and casualty, employee benefits, and personal lines insurance coverage to more than 72,000 clients. With $3 billion of insurance premium written annually, IOA is the 4th largest privately held insurance brokerage in the United States, with over 1,400 team members in 60 locations across the US and now, in Northern Ireland.

In September 2020, IOA opened a technology centre in Belfast for its new quote-and-buy home and auto insurance platform, SimplyIOA, the first independent insurance comparison service of its kind in the US. IOA initially planned on having 40 new software engineering and data science roles, but within nine months, because of the strong talent pool, the company decided to put a portion of its enterprise systems roles in Northern Ireland.

Today, the Belfast team also supports IOA’s enterprise wide digital technology services in areas including IT, infrastructure and operations, cyber security, data science and engineering, application development, and intelligent automation.

When IOA began looking at technology hubs across the US and Europe, Northern Ireland was at the top of the list. The region’s deep pool of highly skilled technology talent and the education system that cultivates this expertise were a perfect match for IOA’s need for experts in software engineering, cyber security, data science, and machine learning.

*Video filmed 22 September 2020

Once IOA decided to build its technology centre in Belfast, Invest NI took a consultative, collaborative approach to working with the company, making it easy for them to set down roots. Based on IOA’s five-year plan, Invest NI helped the company formulate growth strategies, advising on what support could be available for job creation, training and development, and R&D.

Invest NI provided IOA assistance to support new job creation and a variety of soft landing support. The company expects to expand its presence in Northern Ireland even further over the next five years. In the words of IOA Chairman & CEO Heath Ritenour, “This is the smallest we’re ever going to be.”

Northern Ireland company Almac Diagnostic Services offers bespoke precision medicine solutions to pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide.

Almac Diagnostic Services support global pharma and biotech companies with their precision medicine strategies from biomarker discovery through to companion diagnostic partnerships. With clinical and research laboratories in Europe and the USA, alongside strategic partnerships in China, Almac is enabling the support of global studies in Genomic Services, Clinical Trial Assays and Companion Diagnostics. 

The company also provides proprietary biomarker discovery software solutions that global biopharma clients can access to support novel analysis of their DNA and RNA data such as claraT – A unique software reporting solution for cancer researchers looking at gene expression data.

The claraT report is a unique software-driven solution, classifying biologically relevant gene expression signatures into a comprehensive report, using the Hallmarks of Cancer for easy interpretation – saving oncology researchers’ valuable time, whilst maximising the understanding of their dataset.

Planned Growth

Invest NI is working closely with Almac as it invests in future growth plans, including supporting the company with investment in R&D to aid the development of proprietary gene expression assays and biomarker discovery & testing solutions. The company routinely exports to global markets primarily in the USA, Europe and China and has future ambitions to also target the Japanese market.

Invest NI has a network of overseas offices with advisors working closely with companies located in the region interested in developing strategic trading partnerships and relationships with Northern Ireland’s life and health sciences companies. 

Northern Ireland Life & Health Sciences Sector

The region is at the forefront of medical innovation, specialising in the areas of Data Analytics & AI, Diagnostics, Digital Health, Precision Medicine, Clinical Trials and Medical devices. Employing 18,000 Northern Ireland’s vibrant cluster of 250+ companies are providing world-class solutions, exporting globally to over 140 countries thanks to a unique combination of talented people, world-class research and strong links between industry, academia and clinicians.

To find Life and Health Sciences companies view Northern Ireland’s company database:
https://www.investni.com/life-and-health-sciences-company-directory