From small acorns…

From the genius of Alan Turing and the development of “Baby”, the world’s first computer, all the way through to the discovery of Graphene - Manchester has long been a technology trailblazer.

Over hundreds of years, the city has built a world-renowned tech scene and I’m proud to be a Mancunian myself.

As a business, we’ve adopted that famously innovative spirit and Avecto has really come a long way from our original base at Trafford Park. Over the past 7 years, we have transformed from a small tech start up, to one of the world’s leading security software companies.

Of course that transformation hasn’t just happened overnight, it’s been a journey filled with milestones and landmark moments. From the day Mark Austin and I first established the company and introduced our Privilege Guard software to the market, our ambition was to expand and grow - not only here in the UK but also internationally. In 2009, just 12 months after we founded the company, we opened the doors to our first office in the US in Massachusetts.

By 2013, Avecto had seen a staggering 4731% revenue growth over 5 years, winning us the title of UK’s fastest growing software company, opened an office in Melbourne, Australia and taken on our 100^th employee.

Fast-forward to now and in many ways, 2015 has been the standout year in the history of Avecto. We launched our revolutionary Defendpoint software, for which demand has already exceeded all our expectations, and filled our trophy cabinet thanks to a string of awards, and we now have over 150 talented people working at the company.

All of this success was achieved without the help of outside investment and unusually, we recorded profit growth every year. However, last week I was pleased to announce that we have secured a $49m (£32m) investment from the US private equity fund JMI Equity which will really propel us to new heights.

Headquarted in Baltimore and San Diego, JMI Equity has a portfolio of 31 technology businesses in a wide range of industries. The investment will also bring two new people to the Avecto board from JMI, and we’re excited to have them as part of the team as we plan our next phase of growth.

I continue to be astounded at the talent in our development team and the security technology they have created from our offices in Manchester. However, now is the time to increase focus on marketing it and spreading the message about proactive security to more people across the world.

The funding will also allow us to accelerate our product roadmap and realise our future vision, massively extending our software capabilities in the coming years.

I’d like to thank all our customers for their ongoing support to this point and just as importantly, everyone who has been part of our success to date.

It’s a genuinely exciting and inspiring time to be part of Avecto and we’re always looking for more talent to join the team. If you’re looking for a new challenge in 2016, have a chat with our recruitment team for details of current vacancies.