Sales Intelligence vendor Avention, which has long had a sales presence in Asia, continues to expand its presence in the region via direct sales teams and channel partners. They also have significantly expanded their AsiaPac company and contact information sets.
Over the past year, Avention extended its coverage in India, China, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong and added additional staff in their Singapore office. Avention has AsiaPac offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Delhi, Sydney, and Melbourne along with affiliates in China, Japan, and Korea.
Along with Asian companies and contacts, Avention provides global family trees, industry market research, company news and sales triggers, and public company coverage of listed firms in AsiaPac and the rest of the world.
Japan
Avention designated Nikkei Media Marketing as their sole channel distributor in the Japanese market acting as the “exclusive and general agent” for all Avention products in Japan. Avention recently launched a Japanese language version of their OneSource Global Business Browser service. Over the past year, Avention has trebled their Japanese company coverage and quadrupled their Japanese contact coverage.
“This agreement is a terrific step for Avention OneSource Solutions as we focus our growth plans in Asia-Pacific,” said SVP of International Paul Charmatz. “Combined with the launch of our Japanese product, Nikkei’s Media Marketing’s unrivalled network and reach will take our Japanese presence to the next level. OneSource now covers well over 50 million companies globally, giving our customers in Japan access to unrivalled business insights. As a result of this agreement, our customers will be able to make smarter, more informed, data-driven decisions.”
India
In India, Avention has taken a direct sales approach. Avention first opened a Gurgaon, Delhi sales office in 2006. It has since quadrupled its sales presence in India with offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai. Avention has added five staff to its India operations including Nittin Maheshwari, who joined as Director of India & MEA in April.
“India is a big focus for us at Avention OneSource Solutions, as the country is pegged to become the driver of growth across global markets for decades to come,” said Paul Charmatz, SVP of International. “We are fully committed to helping our customers here achieve their business goals as the country’s importance as an economic hub grows. Our Indian business continues to go from strength to strength as increasing numbers of companies reap the benefits of our increased data coverage and cutting edge product offering.”
Avention’s Indian coverage now spans the full universe of Indian registered companies.
China
Avention has chosen to fully enter the Chinese market with a Chinese language version of their sales intelligence and business research product. They also increased coverage of China and the Asia-Pacific region. Expanded Chinese and global coverage presented through a Chinese UI has resulted in the firm signing “a significant number of new customers each month.”
Coverage of Chinese companies, which was slightly above 300,000 firms for nearly a decade, has been increased nearly ten-fold to 2.7 million domestic companies with plans to grow coverage to over 3 ½ million profiles by the end of the year. This coverage growth is part of an expansion of the Avention global company database from 25 million to 70 million companies this year.
Chinese customers can now “access the platform in their local language, making it far easier for them to identify international prospects and be armed with the insight to build relationships,” said Regional Director Lon Shing. “Offering our platform in Chinese is just one sign of our commitment to the region and the businesses there – as well as testament to the massive growth opportunities we see, both for our customers and for Avention”
Note: I was the Product Manager for OneSource Global Business Browser: Asia in 2001-2002 when the service was first launched.