Cyber tech firm steps up London sales push

● New staff to meet demand for security product in UK capital

0 Chief commercial officer Neil Cooper has ambitions to grow Zonefox in the UK and overseas Cyber-security software firm Zonefox, which last year received a £3.6 million cash injection to accelerate growth, is stepping up its push into the London market on the back of strong demand.

The firm is setting up a dedicated sales team in the UK capital after winning contracts from firms in sectors including financial services and law.

Zonefox, a spin-out from Edinburgh Napier University, has developed security products including a “machine learning” platform that will allow companies to monitor unusual use of data by their staff and instantly flag any security risks.

The London expansion follows on from the appointment of Neil Cooper as chief commercial officer last year. As well as plans to grow the company in the UK he is also looking at potential expansion overseas.

“We work with some of the biggest companies in Scotland and believe our technology has clear benefits when compared to others in our space. We don’t want to stop at the level of being a national business, we want to continue to grow the company and we’re really excited about what we can achieve in the City,” said Cooper.

Alex Whiteley, who has worked for a number of cyber security and infrastructure firms, will head up the new team as sales manager. Mark Tucker, who has worked for firms including Mcafee, has also joined as a regional sales manager.

Zonefox moved into new offices in Edinburgh last year following three years at the Codebase tech incubator. In March last year it secured a £3.6m funding boost – the largest to be led by Scottish business angel investment syndicate Archangels – in a move aimed at tripling its headcount to 30.

The funding round also brought in co-investment from the Scottish Investment Bank and Tricap. The trio of investors were involved in a £650,000 fundraising for the firm in 2015.

The company, previously known as Inquisitive Systems, is headed up by founder Dr Jamie Graves, a former PHD student at Edinburgh Napier University.