Irvine-based security software maker SecureAuth Corp. is on a hiring spree after securing another $10 million in venture funding.
The company plans to boost employment to about 100 workers in OC and its offices in Portland, Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and the U.K. by the end of the year, up from 60 at the start of the year.
“Authentication, securitization and verification are all hot areas right now,” said founder and Chief Executive Craig Lund.
SecureAuth’s subscription software, which verifies the identity of employees allowed access to physical and virtual networks and links users to a particular device on the network, is getting strong demand from the law enforcement and medical sectors.
SecureAuth relies on recurring revenue from more than 400 customers under its software service business model. Revenue is projected to hit $16 million to $20 million this year, and the company looks to double that figure next year.
“We’re starting to get to a decent-sized company,” Lund said.
The latest funding, which brings SecureAuth’s fundraising total to about $30 million, included prior backer Toba Capital, the Irvine-based venture capital firm founded by former Quest Software Inc. Chief Executive Vinny Smith.
Smith’s connections to SecureAuth date to early 2011 when Quest took a stake in the company. A source with knowledge of the investment valued it at less than $10 million. Other early backers included executives from Newport Beach-based Acacia Research Corp., which licenses technology.
Goodbye, London?
Irvine-based software maker Kofax Ltd. intends to seek shareholder approval to delist from the London Stock Exchange before April after listing its shares on the Nasdaq less than a year ago.
Nearly 80% of the company’s common stock is held by U.S. shareholders, with the majority of its trading volume handled on the tech-heavy U.S. exchange. A shareholder vote is scheduled for Feb. 9.
The Sept. 2 announcement was part of a busy filing day for Kofax, which also announced its June and year-end financials and a $34 million cash buy of Softpro GMBH, a German company that specializes in electronic signature software and services.
Kofax makes scanning software used by businesses to help streamline information flow and reduce costs.
The company posted revenue of $297 million in the 12 months through June, up 11.5% from the same period a year earlier. Net income topped $11.3 million, up 13%.
Kofax projects revenue of $339 million to $347 million and an adjusted profit of $54 million to $58 million for the current fiscal year.
Phabulous Sales
Phablets, the jumbo-screen smartphones introduced in 2010 with the Android-based Dell Streak, will outsell PCs this year and tablets in 2015, according to a new forecast by Framingham, Mass.-based IDC.
The growing segment will hit 175 million units this year, surpassing the 170 million PCs expected to ship. Phablets are projected to top 318 million units sold next year, overtaking tablet sales of 233 million units.
Apple Inc. is expected to fuel the gains with its new iPhone release this week that aims to take a bite of market share from rival Samsung’s Galaxy 4 Note and the Galaxy Note Edge, the latter of which features a curved display.
