Canadian Minister Goodyear visits eSentire, a fast-growing security tech company

Cambridge

Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

(FedDev Ontario)

FedDev Ontario Minister Gary Goodyear visited eSentire, Inc. today to congratulate the company on growing its workforce and to celebrate the opening of its new Security Operations Centre in Cambridge, Ontario.

In 2011, Minister Goodyear announced a repayable contribution of up to $987,500 through FedDev Ontario’s Investing in Business Innovation initiative, recognizing the innovative potential of eSentire. This funding successfully helped eSentire in enhancing information security software and systems and extended the company’s reach into new markets.

eSentire, which has grown by more than 100 employees since 2011, announced in November 2014 its plans to open a second Security Operations Centre in Europe later in 2015.

Following the tour at eSentire, Minister Goodyear hosted a roundtable and met with industry leaders and stakeholders in Cambridge to discuss opportunities for local firms to leverage advanced technologies.

Minister Goodyear began the day in the Waterloo Region by announcing $8 million for the Waterloo Accelerator Centre to expand its AC JumpStart program. The program provides seed funding and skills training to help local companies become more market, customer and investment-ready.

Quick Facts

• FedDev Ontario’s contribution of up to $987,500 helped eSentire create 100 new jobs over three years, four times more than what was originally anticipated.
• Through the first phase of the Investing in Business Innovation initiative (IBI) launched in October 2010, FedDev Ontario invested nearly $57 million in repayable contributions to 86 companies, leveraging almost three times more in private sector investments. FedDev Ontario also invested more than $3 million in 13 angel networks and associations.
• eSentire was recently named Best Security Service at the annual HFM US Hedge Fund Services Awards. In 2013, the company ranked on the Canadian Innovation Exchange’s CIX Top 20 most innovative Canadian companies and was named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Companies to Watch.
• IBI funding is currently available for early-stage businesses with fewer than 50 employees; southern Ontario-based angel investor networks; and not-for-profit organizations that provide skills development and seed financing to new entrepreneurs.

Quotes

“I’m delighted to see how far eSentire has come in terms of building its products and its workforce in Cambridge. Thanks to our Government’s investment, eSentire has transformed their innovative ideas into marketable technologies, resulting in new jobs and a stronger local economy in Cambridge.”

- The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario)

“We are honoured to have Minister Goodyear here to see our success first-hand. Since his last visit in 2011, we added more than 100 new employees to our team and expanded our offices. Our focus at eSentire is to combat criminals who are using the reach and anonymity of the Internet to carry-out their crimes. We attribute our success to our talented people, they are professionals capable of finding real threats and actively diffusing them before any serious damage is done.”

- J. Paul Haynes, CEO, eSentire