Selling to Your Parent Company’s Competitors: Lessons from Discai’s Go-to-Market Strategy

The conventional wisdom says banks don’t buy technology from other banks. But in a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Fabrice Deprez revealed how Discai, a company spun out of KBC Group, is successfully selling their AI solutions to their parent company’s competitors.

Choosing the Right Battle

When launching Discai, KBC Group had multiple AI applications they could commercialize. Their choice of which to bring to market first proved crucial. As Fabrice explains, “When we launched a company, we had the choice to launch a company with different domains. All process, efficiency, commercial activities could be improved thanks to AI.”

Instead of focusing on competitive areas, they chose financial crime prevention. Why? “This fight against the financial crime is a common fight between all banks. And this doesn’t bring any commercial advantage… it’s a common obligation to do that correctly, just to keep the trust on the market.”

Understanding Industry Dynamics

Their strategy was based on a deep understanding of bank psychology. “It’s never interesting for a bank to have a big hit on the reputation of a bank near to you because it’s like the domino effect, that reputation won’t reflect on you,” Fabrice notes.

This insight transformed potential competitors into collaborators. The message resonated because banks understand that financial crime affects everyone’s reputation. As recent events have shown, problems at one bank can quickly spread to others.

Building Credibility Through Results

Rather than hiding their connection to KBC, Discai leveraged it to demonstrate results. Their solution dramatically improves on current industry standards, where “more than 90% of the work that the people are doing is just a false positive, meaning a work which was unnecessary.”

This focus on results over relationships is working. “We visited already 26 banks spread over Europe… Every time we receive that same answer, yes, we imply that it’s a common fight and we should fight that together,” Fabrice shares.

Creating Independent Credibility

While leveraging their KBC connection, Discai invested in building their own credibility. “We had to build an organization, we had to attract people. We had to develop a commercial plan, financial plan, and just go on the market and put the name on the street,” Fabrice explains.

This strategy is already showing results: “We already have our first three customers outside the group which is already positive. We have an outlook of being financially independent as of mid of next year. So two years after launch being profitable.”

Key Lessons for Enterprise Spinouts

Discai’s experience offers valuable lessons for companies selling to their parent company’s competitors:

1. Choose markets where collaboration matters more than competition
2. Focus on problems that affect industry trust and reputation
3. Use parent company results to demonstrate value
4. Build independent credibility while leveraging corporate connections
5. Set clear metrics for success and independence

Their rapid progress suggests that corporate parentage, often seen as a liability when selling to competitors, can actually be an asset if you choose the right market and positioning.

For founders in similar situations, the key question becomes: what problems in your industry require collective action to solve? The answer might just reveal opportunities where competitors become customers.