An Illinois-based IT service provider’s aggressive expansion in Orange County includes a showroom in Anaheim and a sponsorship deal with the Anaheim Ducks and Honda Center.
Impact Networking LLC’s 8,200-square-foot sales and technology showroom at 2400 Katella Ave. will feature a software demo theater with display technology and a dedicated area to showcase hardware. The facility, scheduled for completion early next year, will house 40 employees, including account managers, managed IT engineers, help desk staff, and business process optimization specialists.
“We’re trying to cover more geography,” Chief Executive Frank Cucco told the Business Journal.
The company opened an office and warehouse in downtown Los Angeles about a year ago in its first West Coast foray.
Its 535-member workforce in four states specializes in manufacturing, software and hardware development, and design and marketing. The fast grower is boosting its top line more than 25% annually and projects revenue to hit $120 million this year, according to Cucco.
Impact is big on sports marketing and has had sponsorship deals with about a dozen franchises, including the Los Angeles Kings, Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs and Blackhawks.
Its new 10-year partnership with the Ducks and Honda Center is intended to expand Impact’s visibility in the region. The deal includes advertising its name on digital signs at every Ducks home game at the arena, plus a hospitality package to entertain Impact clients with higher-end experiences for the C-suite crowd.
Impact signed a multiyear deal with AEG in January for naming rights for the Impact Sports Bar & Grill, which debuted that month at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Impact moved into sports marketing in 2007 in a deal with the Blackhawks before the franchise grew to one of the National Hockey League’s most successful on and off the ice.
The company was established in 1999 in Chicago and has operations in Wisconsin and Indiana.
Skyworks Streets
Skyworks Solutions Inc., which is led from Irvine, picked up a design win from Netherlands conglomerate Koninklijke Philips N.V.
Skyworks’ chips are embedded in Philips’ CityTouch street lighting management products, which allow municipalities to monitor and control street lamps, and reduce power consumption.
Skyworks, whose corporate designation is Massachusetts, didn’t provide shipment volume estimates or financial impact of the design win.
The company agreed in August to buy analog chip systems maker Avnera Corp. for $405 million in cash, which could reach $425 million if certain benchmarks are hit.
Beaverton, Ore.-based Avnera will boost Skyworks’ wireless connectivity offerings by supplying ultra-low-power analog circuits that enable smart devices. The buy will also boost Skyworks’ presence in the artificial intelligence, enterprise and auto sectors, the company said.
Skyworks (Nasdaq: SWKS) shares are down about 14% this year to $83 and a $14.8 billion market cap.
The company has been impacted by the U.S. ban on China’s second-largest telecommunications equipment maker, and its big customer, ZTE Corp.
IPO Buzz
Crowdstrike Inc., the security software maker that got its start in OC, is reportedly considering an initial public offering before year-end.
The company, which has an Irvine operation, hired Goldman Sachs to run the IPO process, according to Reuters.
Crowdstrike was co-founded by George Kurtz, former chief technology officer at McAfee Inc.; Dmitri Alperovitch, former vice president at McAfee; and Gregg Marston, former chief financial officer at Networks in Motion Inc. in Aliso Viejo. Marston retired in 2015.
It raised $200 million in June in a Series E round led by General Atlantic, Accel and IVP. Other backers included March Capital and CapitalG, the former Google Capital.
The company has raised more than $480 million since it was established in 2011, pushing its valuation past $3 billion, according to a company blog post.
Its products are designed to detect, prevent and respond to security threats and attacks. It also provides monitoring, cyberintelligence services and big-data analytics.
The Business Journal was first to report the company’s headquarters move last year from Irvine to Silicon Valley.
Crowdstrike is among the most-watched companies in OC, where it employs about 50 at its Irvine office, good enough for 33rd on our annual list of the largest software makers based on employment.
