Cyber security firm Endace wins $4.4M research and development investment grant

By Peter Kerr

July 29 (BusinessDesk) – Endace Ltd., the Auckland-based global marketer and seller of internet security technology products, gained a $4.44 million investment grant through TechNZ to accelerate its development program.

TechNZ is a Foundation for Research, Science and Technology administered fund, while Endace, a 2001 Waikato University spin-off, provides high performance traffic analysis, latency measurement, network security and application acceleration solutions that capture, inspect and report on every single data packet.

TechNZ’s technology development grant program is a new government initiative to help fast track research ideas into sellable products as well as boost high quality job growth and high tech industry. The Endace funding is for 50% of the cost of a series of substantial product developments over the next two years.

Last year, in challenging conditions, Endace made a US$380,000 profit on US$31 million of sales. To March 2009 its profit was US$4.5 million.

“This grant will help Endace accelerate a number of significant projects that will ensure that the company remains at the cutting edge of packet capture and analysis technologies,” said Endace chairman Ian Graham. “The grant is especially timely given the increased investments we are currently making in our sales and marketing activities.”

Graham said Endace’s sales pipeline is the strongest it has ever been, while the company that also has U.K. and U.S.A. offices last year spent US$8.8 million on research and development.

Research, Science and Technology minister Wayne Mapp said that as an emerging leader in cyber security technologies, Endace is an excellent example of the type of company that will drive economic growth.

“Endace spends more than 20% of its revenue on research and development,” Mapp said. “The TechNZ investment will accelerate this, allowing the creation of more top R&D jobs in New Zealand. These are the kinds of job in the high-tech sector that bring highly-skilled New Zealanders home from overseas.”

Endace employs 98 people in New Zealand.

Mapp said cyber security is of increasing importance to organisations whose networks carry sensitive commercial and government intelligence. The area is a growing niche for New Zealand companies who have access to western markets he said.

(BusinessDesk)

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