Smarttech247 CEO Raluca Saceanu with Minister of State Ossian Smyth at the company's Cork headquarters. Image: Michael O'Sullivan/OSM Photo
The company previously planned to bypass the IPO process through a reverse takeover deal with Conduity Capital.
Cork-based cybersecurity company Smarttech247 has been listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM sub-market.
The company raised £3.67m through a placing of roughly 12.38m ordinary shares at a price of £0.2966 per share. The placing price gives the company a valuation of £36.8m.
Founded by Ronan Murphy in 2008 and now led by CEO Raluca Saceanu, Smarttech247 combines threat intelligence with managed detection and response to provide insights, threat detection, investigation and response services to its customers.
The company has been expanding its operations over the past couple of years. In February 2021, it announced plans to hire 30 new staff at its Cork headquarters.
It invested in Northern Ireland for the first time earlier this year, sharing plans to create 30 jobs at a new Belfast hub.
Smarttech247 also has offices in the US and Europe, providing cybersecurity expertise to a network of clients across these locations.
Saceanu said the past two years have been “transformational” and that getting listed on the AIM sub-market is an “important milestone” for the company.
“We have ambitious growth plans, and our IPO is the step that helps to launch our very own ‘S247 rocket’,” she added. “Becoming a public company is a great opportunity to emphasise our brand and the cybersecurity expertise we have built over the years”.
Last year, Smarttech247 entered a non-binding agreement with Conduity Capital to get listed on AIM through a reverse takeover deal.
This would have seen it acquired by Conduity for £33.5m, which would have allowed the Cork company to go public but bypass the IPO process.
Infosec is a constantly developing sector and the global cybersecurity industry is expected to grow in value to $248bn by 2023.
In July, Smarttech247 offered 60 places to women on a free course to help participants develop infosec skills and widen the talent pool in the industry.
“There are thousands of openings in cybersecurity companies around the world at any one time, and yet, research in Ireland last year showed 27pc of companies have difficulty retaining females in their cybersecurity team,” Saceanu said at the time.
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