Mexico’s Mining Industry

24 Negocios ProMéxico
arkus nexus,
made-To-measuRe
TeChnoloGiCal
soluTions
This Tijuana-based company has created a
technological eco-system capable of providing
solutions for a wide variety of sectors. Boasting
an attractive business model, it currently
exports 70% of its output to the US.
____
by antonio vázquez
photos courtesy of arkus nexus
Gasoline, insurance and education
may not seem like sectors
that have a lot in common, but
Arkus Nexus, a Mexican company
based in the border city of Tijuana,
Baja California, has come up with a technological
solution tailored to each.
The result of a merger between two
consulting firms specializing in software,
Arkus Nexus has been in business for over
ten years and currently exports approximately
70% of its output to the US.
In the last decade, the company has
grown to the point where it now employs
100 people at its 900-square-meter building
in the heart of Tijuana’s financial district,
the birthplace of Mind Hub (Mexico
Innovation Development), which develops
apps for iPad and other mobile devices targeting
mainly the educational sector.
“Arkus and Nexus fused ten years ago. We
were both originally consulting and software
development firms –which has been our
main line of business– and have exploited
Tijuana’s geographical location: a bilingual,
bicultural eco-system that is close to California,
one of the region’s largest markets,” says
Arkus Nexus founder Jorge Arroyo.
A watershed in the firm’s history was its
participation in the TechBA program back
in 2006. According to Arroyo, TechBA,
which backs the international expansion
of Mexican technological companies, was
the “shove” it needed to enter the US. Since
then, growth has been exponential, maxing
out at 100% in 2012.
In addition to providing quality technological
solutions –Arkus Nexus’ client
portfolio includes the insurance companies
Quadrant and Metlife, Coca Cola and
gas stations in the region–, Arroyo attributes
the company’s success to local talent,
combined with its geographical location
and emphasis on showing its customers a
human face.
“We can reach San Diego in minutes. We
can get on a plane and be in West Coast cities
in the US in no time. Plus, we don’t just
focus on the technical side of the services we
render, but on quality and human resources
on the business side,” Arroyo points out.
“As soon as you get past the barrier and
manage to persuade American customers
to take off their blinders in relation to
Mexico, they realize work methods are
similar in both countries,” interjects Felipe
Fernández, Director of Special Projects
at Arkus Nexus. “We have customers who
come to us and say they feel like they’re
working in Silicon Valley. Our products
sell themselves and I can guarantee that of
every ten executives who come to us, eight
leave extremely satisfied with what we do.”
Over the years, Arkus Nexus has come
to specialize in the development of outsourcing
software, programs for insurance
companies and gasoline stations, and
solutions for the retail sector and medium-sized
companies whose needs can’t be
met by small companies, but that are too
small to be appealing to larger ones.
“There are chains with 10 or 30 stores
for whom the small target isn’t practical
but with whom larger companies aren’t
always willing to work. They have budgets
of 2, 3, even 4 million pesos, which
can be enough to do something interesting,
but this medium-sized market lacks
providers and that’s where we come in
with solutions tailored to their needs,”
explains Fernández.
minD hub, a Technological
eco-sysTem
With Arkus Nexus well on the road
to consolidation, Arroyo decided it was
time to take the next step. His idea was to
bring together local technological companies
under one roof. An idea that materialized
in the form of the Tijuana-based
Negocios ProMéxico 25
In addition to providing
quality technological
solutions, Arroyo
attributes the company’s
success to local talent,
combined with its
geographical location and
emphasis on showing its
customers a human face.
initiative Mind Hub (Mexico Innovation
Development).
Managed by Ulises Elías, a Mexican
specialized in innovation in Denmark,
Mind Hub has six companies that develop
cutting-edge products like Ed Ninja, a
series of iPad apps designed for children
with autism.
In April 2012, Mind Hub launched its
first iPad apps for children with autism,
dyslexia and other learning disorders. That
same year, Mexico’s National Council of
Science and Technology (CONACyT) selected
Mind Hub as a beneficiary of the
Support for Innovation Program on the
basis of those applications.
Although its main market is in the US,
Arkus Nexus and Mind Hub aim to expand
their Latin American operations to the
Southern Cone by 2015.
“We want to expand our operations
beyond Tijuana, leverage more regions in
Mexico and take on the retail and gasoline
sectors in Latin America,” says Arroyo. “As
for the commercial side,” he concludes, “we
have our sights set on larger markets and
the natural step is to position ourselves
among larger customers, larger firms.” n
www.arkus-solutions.com