From left: Simon Whittaker, Vertical Structure; Paddy O'Hagan, Instil; Marc Dowie, Vertical Structure; Tara Simpson, Instil. Image: © Matt Mackey
A deal was reached between the two Belfast-based companies for an undisclosed sum.
Product development company Instil has purchased cybersecurity consultancy Vertical Structure.
The acquisition will see Instil add cybersecurity consultancy to its offering, while Vertical Structure’s clients will be able to avail of Instil’s broad range of services.
The exact figure of the sum involved in the deal between the two Northern Irish companies was not disclosed.
Instil, which currently employs 130 people, offers services such as product development, cloud engineering, digital modernisation and training in software teams.
Vertical Structure provides cybersecurity consultancy and specialises in human-focused security and penetration testing services for web applications, cloud infrastructure and mobile applications.
Tara Simpson, CEO and founder of Instil, said he was delighted about the deal, having worked with Vertical Structure for many years.
“Cybersecurity is a must-have for organisations around the world and, with this acquisition, we are now in a position to be able to deliver consultancy which meets that demand,” he said.
Simon Whittaker, co-founder and CEO of Vertical Structure, said the deal provides us with the means to cement future growth and opens our cybersecurity offering up to a much wider audience.”
The acquisition comes at a time when cybersecurity continues to cause concern among business leaders.
PwC’s 2025 Digital Trust Insights survey found that only 28pc companies in Ireland have implemented robust cybersecurity across their organisations, trailing behind their global counterparts, 33pc of which are more resilient to cyberattacks.
And a recent report from insurance company Hiscox revealed that 74pc of Irish organisations surveyed suffered an increase in cyberattacks in the past year.
Earlier this month, the EU Network & Information Security 2 (NIS2) Directive came into effect, meaning all EU member states have to start complying with the Union’s new stringent regulations to boost cybersecurity standards.
Meanwhile, another major cybersecurity regulation, the Digital Operations Resilience Act (DORA), will be fully enacted in January 2025.
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