Cork-based firm Inhance Technologies is gearing up for expansion overseas as it prepares to open its first office in the US.
The company, which recently rebranded from YouGetItBack, will open its office in Boston next month, with global business development director Paul Leahy heading up the new operation.
“We work with a lot of insurance companies, so the east coast is important. There’s a lot of local talent there as well,” said Inhance chief executive and co-founder Paul Prendergast. “It ticked a lot of boxes for us.”
The consumer security software firm works with mobile phone insurance companies globally. However, about 50 per cent of its business is done in North America, making the US office a logical step. Inhance also operates in Britain and continental Europe, and has its first major deal in Asia ready to go live later in the year.
Mr Prendergast said the company, which has doubled its staff to 38 over the past year, also planned to add to its Irish workforce in 2013, with Mr Prendergast estimating at least 10 people would join the firm.
Rebranding
Inhance rebranded the business last month to make it clear to clients and potential customers what the business was about.
“We wrap our consumer security software around their insurance programmes and help them to sell more, reduce fraud, reduce customer attrition,” he said.
“This is an enterprise pitch to retailers, telcos and insurance companies globally. We’ve been delivering this type of service to our customers for a number of years and we felt the time was right to rebrand as Inhance Technologies to effect where we’d repositioned over the past couple of years.”
Mr Prendergast said feedback on the move had been very good so far.
“We have a small group of customers that we engage with across the world, so it’s not about volume of people, it’s about the right type of people, understanding the value that we can provide to them,” he said. “We found that since we rebranded, people are spending about 10 times as much time per visit, which is exactly what we want.”
The company has also been nominated for an award at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“To be recognised by your peers as being one of the leaders in your field is always a good thing. It will definitely help our business development; it’s great for our team here in Cork,” Mr Prendergast said.
