Homegrown success story Netwatch creates 85 jobs in Carlow after raising €20m and has now set its sights on global expansion.
Digital security specialist Netwatch is to create 85 new jobs over the next year in areas that include software development, digital marketing, engineering and sales.
The jobs announcement comes on the heels of the company raising €19.5m in a funding round via the Irish Government-supported BDO Development Capital Fund.
The company was founded in 2003 in Carlow by David Walsh and Niall Kelly.
With offices in Newry, and a new office under construction in Boston, Netwatch protects customers across industries including retail, logistics, warehousing, automotive, construction, hardware, manufacturing, utilities and the public sector.
A regional success story
The company is a next-generation security player that specialises in intervention through remote CCTV monitoring. Once security is breached, its technology kicks in and alerts intruders to the fact that they are being watched and that the police have been informed.
The company has developed intellectual property that enables its in-house technology to support other industry verticals, including food safety.
The new jobs will bring employment at Netwatch to over 250 people in Carlow, the US and the UK.
Based on a Netwatch 2020 vision, the company’s strategy is to grow internationally, beginning with new offices in Chicago and on the US west coast.
Netwatch CEO David Walsh told Siliconrepublic.com that the company doubled down on R&D to create its own proprietary technologies during the recession, and that laid the foundation for the company’s growth.
“What we are doing is very disruptive to the traditional security industry and we have developed a unique technology that lets us target new industry opportunities,” Walsh explained.
He said that while the company has been advised to pursue an IPO, organic growth is the most likely policy.
“We have our own IP and recurring income, which is very attractive to investors – we just feel right now that an IPO would be one phase too early.
“We are focused on building an organisation that will double in size over the next three years.”
Netwatch’s technology monitors in excess of 42,000 security cameras across the globe and the company deploys video processing technologies to more than 3,200 businesses including retail, warehouses, logistics, multinationals and utility companies.
Its technology has prevented more than 40,000 crimes worldwide.
It certainly shows what is possible if a local enterprise in rural Ireland creates a global vision.
“Netwatch is an inspiring example of a company that demonstrates global ambition when it comes to its market export potential and is sending a very positive message to every Irish entrepreneur and company, particularly those regionally based, that it is possible to build an innovative and scalable company that can compete at the highest levels internationally,” said Terence O’Rourke, chairman of Enterprise Ireland.
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