Steven Vynckier, a founding partner of Spotit, said his company weighed three cities for its first U.S. office, with Atlanta and Tampa competing with Raleigh for the office.
But, in the end, Raleigh's central location on the East Coast and growing tech talent swayed the company's founders.
"We can only grow if we find the right talent," Vynckier said at a meeting on Centennial Campus. "That is crucial for us. .... Raleigh has a 15-minute drive to three of the leading universities of America. That's crazy, and that's why we chose Raleigh."
Randy Woodson, chancellor of N.C. State, said his university knows there's a growing demand for computer science and engineering talent.
"We're recognizing that through the growth of our campus," he said, noting N.C. State's computer science and engineering programs are the 11th largest in the U.S.
"We plan to grow (those two departments) by 40 percent, and that will put us in the top five nationally for the production of engineers and computer scientists in the U.S."
Spotit, founded in 2014, has 125 customers across the world, including many in pharmaceutical and utilities. One of its largest customers is Pfizer and a major partner is Cisco Systems, which has a large presence in nearby Research Triangle Park.
Cybersecurity firms have seen strong growth in recent years, as ransomware and hacking attempts have skyrocketed. Russia's current adversarial stance with most of the West, following its invasion of Ukraine, could also lead to more cyber threats.
"Spotit Belgium grew by 125 percent per year because of" the growth in hacking, Vynckier said in an interview. "Now, with the Russia-Ukraine (conflict), there's a lot of attacks coming from Russia. A lot of companies and countries need to protect themselves better, and that's what we bring to the table."
Spotit will initially be based out of the Raleigh Founded coworking office on Centennial Campus before finding a larger space, N.C. State said.
Sander Vasbinder, chief operating officer for Spotit, who has moved to Raleigh as part of the expansion, said that the company plans to have 10 employees by the end of the year and 30 by the end of next year.
The average salaries at the Spotit office will be around $90,000 per year, according to N.C. State.
The expansion of Spotit is the latest example of how Centennial Campus has become an important economic development chip for Raleigh.
The campus, just a few minutes from downtown Raleigh, has become a popular landing spot for companies, including tech firm Bandwidth, Live Oak Bank and LexisNexis. Notably, Red Hat, one of the region's leading tech employers, grew on Centennial Campus before moving into its own tower downtown.
Centennial is also home to the school's Hunt Library and its engineering department, putting students right next to potential employers and internships.
There is already 5 million square feet of public and private buildings on Centennial, and 75 companies and government agencies have offices there, The News & Observer previously reported.
Last year, N.C. State received a rezoning approval that will allow it to grow the campus significantly in the coming years, including the potential of adding buildings up to 28 stories tall.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate.
©2022 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
