Northern Ireland cybersecurity firm Angoka has joined The Software Alliance as its 50th member.

Currently acting on behalf of over 25% of the total software workforce in Northern Ireland, the alliance exists to represent the sector’s interests and support policy development to see the province become a world leading region for innovative software businesses.

Having built a strong reputation with government and wider society, the alliance, which is the voice of Northern Ireland’s £1.7 billion software industry, has welcomed several new members in recent months including Vertical Structure, PA Consulting and Cloudsmith, and now Angoka.

Software Alliance chief executive David Crozier, explained: “It is fitting to take the Software Alliance to 50 members with the addition of Angoka. Since establishing a presence in Belfast three years ago, the company has raised millions in funding rounds and has stepped up to match the fast-moving developments in cybersecurity, specifically in aviation, transport, and the internet of things.

“At the Software Alliance, we exist to support member companies to build on their success while also being a vehicle for them to feed into government and policy development. I was delighted to see Angoka expand into a new office space and look forward to their contributions to the alliance.”

Headquartered in Belfast and with offices in London, Cambridge and The Hague, Angoka was founded in 2019 and creates cybersecurity solutions to protect communications for Smart Cities and Mobility.

Having chosen to establish its headquarters and building and development centre in Belfast in 2020, the company recently joined the Software Alliance and opened a new office space in Catalyst – The Innovation Centre, Belfast.

Angoka commercial director Philip Mills, added: “We are excited to cement our presence in the Northern Ireland software sector by becoming the Software Alliance’s 50th member, in line with our office expansion. The excellent ecosystem for cybersecurity, partnerships with local universities and high-quality software and engineering talent are what brought us to Belfast, and we look forward to feeding into the overall development of the sector by being part of the Software Alliance community.”

Led by chief executive David Crozier, The Software Alliance represents the interests of the sector from large multinationals including founding members Kainos, Liberty IT and Allstate NI and indigenous businesses creating software in Northern Ireland, including Instil, GCD Technologies and TextHelp.

The alliance supports member companies on issues relating to labour, skills, R&D and investments. In the last month, it launched the TechTeach upskilling programme, which supports teachers to deliver software education in the classroom. The organisation is also developing an industry-led teacher mentoring scheme with the support of its members and Software Alliance School’s Group.