Identum Case Study
E-mail encryption company Identum launched in late 2002 from the Cryptography Research Group at the University of Bristol. Between 2003 and 2005 the company was housed in the SETsquared Acceleration Centre attached to Bristol University until it moved onto the next phase of its development.
Andy Dancer, Identum’s early-stage CEO and now CTO, says that the infrastructure provided by this incubation centre created an ideal environment for Identum to concentrate on developing its innovative new email encryption technology.The biggest advantage of being in this environment was that our admin and costs were minimised at a time when we didn’t have many resources and simply wanted to concentrate on the software we were designing. For instance, we were charged a fee of £100 per desk so every time we hired a new staff member we’d simply pay another £100. The incubation centre never wanted to profit from us, they just needed to break even and in that way they subsidised our early growth. As we grew we moved offices four times within the business centre yet we were always able to keep the same phone number and address. All our services and furniture were included so we never had to think about that. We’d all simply pick up our PCs and move to a bigger space. They made life very easy for us.”
Dancer says the company also appreciated the networking initiatives offered by this environment. The investor roadshows we attended gave us important external validation of the new path we were pioneering. We also appreciated the self-help network we became part of with other businesses in the centre.”
Identum outgrew its need for incubation in 2006 and now sells commercial email encryption products from its headquarters in Maidenhead and its offices in the US, Australia and Hong Kong. However, the company’s product development office remains in Bristol with most of its early staff still on board.
For more case studies see the SETsquared Business Acceleration website.
