Amacis, Northern Ireland's first global Internet software company, is to expand its operations in the US with the establishment of a new systems integration facility in Boston.
The expansion was announced in Boston yesterday by Sir Reg Empey, Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, during his week-long visit to the US and Canada with a trade mission which includes Sinn Fein's Mr Pat Doherty, chairman of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee.
Based in Belfast, Amacis currently employs 55 people in Northern Ireland and plans to create a further 75 jobs by the end of this year. To date the company has raised $4.5 million (€5 million) in venture capital funding and an additional round of financing is planned for late summer.
Sir Reg said the leading edge technology developed by Amacis was an excellent example of enterprise in software and e-business techniques that was readily available in Northern Ireland. Amacis was part of a technology bridge that is developing between Northern Ireland and the Boston area which is also underpinned by successful Industrial Development Board-backed investments in Belfast and Derry by world-class corporations such as Liberty Mutual, Raytheon, Segue Software and Stream International.
Relationships between Boston, Belfast and Derry were also assisting trade exchanges and contacts at college levels, involving the University of Massachusetts, Harvard, Boston College and the University of Ulster. Derry-Boston Ventures now was a well-established and innovative trading partnership.
