Taking on tech thieves is firm’s selling point

In a digital world which is becoming increasingly dependent on mobile phones and tablets, Cork company Inhance Technology is experiencing a surge in demand for technology which protects these devices from thieves.

“Our software can be used to lock a phone, trace it, take a photo of the thief, wipe the data remotely, sound an alarm, put the phone on full volume so the thief can’t use it, or just to render the phone useless,’” says Inhance Technology marketing vice-president Lorraine Duffy, who adds that the theft of smartphones has become a huge problem across the world.

Back in 2010, the company launched on the market with a business-to-consumer product called Mobile Superhero, but has since changed its focus in order to target insurance companies and warranty companies. According to Ms Duffy, it is now the leading supplier of mobile device security to this sector.

Customers include Best Buy, Carphone Warehouse, Three, Global Warranty Group, as well as some of the world’s largest insurance companies.

Employing a staff of 47, the company has grown turnover by 107% over the last four years. Following the opening of a new office in Boston this year, Inhance is making ambitious plans for international growth and aims to increase its staff size to 55 over the next year.

The company began life in 2005 as Yougetitback — offering physical tags to protect valuables including phones and laptops. Three years later, the growth in the use of smartphones prompted the firm to develop software which enabled it to locate and lock mobile devices.

“It quickly became apparent that there was a much bigger opportunity out there for this software solution,” Ms Duffy says. Patenting the technology in 2008, the company launched on the market with Mobile Superhero in 2010 and began selling to Best Buy.

Shortly after launching Mobile Superhero as a consumer product, Yougetitback saw an opportunity to sell directly to the insurance industry and began white-labelling its offering so that insurance companies could sell it as part of a package to their customers.

The company saw that insurers needed to respond to technological advancement. “Consumers wanted to protect both their device and their data,” Ms Duffy explains.

“They needed a consumer security product with anti-theft, parental control, data back-up, and location features, which they could wrap around their traditional insurance programmes.”

Since then, the company’s staff has doubled in size and management has signed a number of significant deals, including ones with a Canadian loyalty provider active in the UK, Asia, and Canada, and behind many loyalty and airline programmes.

Work has also continued on developing the company’s technology, which can be used on all types of mobile devices.

Based at Cleve Business Park in Blackrock, Inhance is a privately funded company that has been supported by Enterprise Ireland — which identified it as a high-potential start-up in 2006.

Earlier this year, the company rebranded as Inhance Technology, and opened an office in Boston with a view to expanding sales in North America, which now accounts for 50% of turnover.

“This year, we signed with one of the leading insurance providers in the world. And as part of this deal we have launched our product in Switzerland with a major mobile operator,” Ms Duffy reveals.

She says the strategy of focusing on the insurance industry has worked very well for Inhance. “We have become experts in the insurance industry, our software helps our client to sell more insurance, this is the key factor driving our success.”

Given that 1.6m mobile phones are stolen annually in the US, the firm expects demand to continue growing. Ms Duffy says Inhance is unique in providing a one-stop-shop to insurance companies and has now established itself as a leading player..

Company turnover for 2013 is expected to reach €5m. While the North American market will continue to be significant, Inhance has now moved into Russia and Thailand and is making plans to develop sales in both Central and South America.

“We are now seeing the early stages of massive growth in Canada and in European countries like Spain, Holland, and the UK,” Ms Duffy says, adding that the company has aggressive growth plans for the next three years.