NORTHERN IRELAND has won a major new investment by an American software firm that will create 50 jobs in Belfast, the North’s Minister for Enterprise Arlene Foster has confirmed in Washington.
Mrs Foster, who is on a two-city trade mission to the United States this week, said Q1 Labs, which is headquartered in Massachusetts, intends to establish a new European headquarters in Belfast.
Q1 Labs develops and provides network security intelligence software products to fight cyber-crime. Its technology is in use by more than 1,000 companies.
Brendan Hannigan, president and chief operating officer of Q1 Labs, said it had chosen Belfast because of its “globally recognised quality of ICT skills and Invest NI support”.
“We look forward to commencing recruitment for senior and associate level engineers in the coming weeks,” he added.
The US firm’s investment in Belfast will complement the city’s growing specialism in the field of cyber-security.
Last year Queen’s University launched a £30 million Centre for Secure Information Technologies which will develop technology to counter malicious ‘‘cyber-attacks’’.
Q1 Labs, which is privately owned, did not reveal the full value of its first investment in the North but it will receive £750,000 of financial support from Invest NI.
According to Invest NI the Q1 Labs investment could generate £2 million in salaries each year by 2012.
Speaking in Washington yesterday, Mrs Foster said the investment was a “timely endorsement” of Northern Ireland’s skill base and general investor appeal.
