Innovators hitch a ride on drive for national security

the technology to analyze customer’s calls. Now, as Mr says, there are “analagous uses in security.” The majority of Aurix’s $3 million sales comes from the United States and from consumer clients, but Kirby says that “We are in regular contact with the U.K. government to talk about potential applications of the technology.”

One of the crucial things for start-ups to remember is that, if you “identify the markets where there will be a real need for the products and identify the global leaders who may be early adopters and get them on board, it can be a win-win situation,”,he says. “The benefit for a small company is you get the back-ing of the market lead-er while, for the latter, [the ability to access their innovative technology allows you] to maintain your position,” says Kirby. To that end, once Aurix decided to focus on call centers, and it identified Witness, now called Verint Americas, as the market leader. Verint holds a 12 percent stake in Aurix and has a seat on the board of directors.

For any start-up hoping to operate in homeland security, networking is important. Peter Jaco, chief executive of OrbisIP, realized there was a gap in the market for a formal structure for helping producers of IT and homeland security intellectual property reach security customers worldwide. He and Imprimatur Capital set up OrbisIP to build a network to help early-stage technology companies or spin-outs take their technology to a wider audience. “We sit as middlemen, as IP scouts,” Jaco explains. The company is building partnership relationships with universities, research laboratories, and small businesses that specialise in producing innovative technology and will assist them in licensing and distributing it. Jaco is also cofounder and deputy chairman of an industry networking body, the Security Innovation and Technology Consortium, which is sponsored by Seeda, the development agency for south-east England. Such networks are vital, says Jaco: Smaller companies often “don’t have the contacts or the marketing clout to get into big potential customers”, especially in homeland security.

Another issue for aspiring homeland security suppliers is that employees may need security clearance to visit certain sites or work on particular technology. Kirby says Aurix sees security vetting as “one more quality standard” to provide for the customer. “In practice, we’ve found it’s not a problem.” Davies says Symetrica staff do not need security clearance now “but I anticipate this will change,” adding: “Some staff already have individual clearances, required for access to certain test facilities.” For Symetrica, much now depends on the outcome of current tests for the U.S. contract, which should result in orders for full-scale manufacture. In the intervening time the company has secured more funds, raising several hundred thousand pounds from a combination including Nesta, Tennants Ventures, and the South West Growth Fund, but it remains lossmaking on an annual basis. Break-even point “is when we start getting enough units ordered by the end customer,” says Davies. Funding is one area where Davies thinks the United Kingdom could serve start-up companies such as Symetrica better: “As a small U.K. company we do feel like a poor relation to the types of U.S. companies.” A U.S. counterpart to Symetrica, he says, would be eligible for small-business innovation research awards that would pay you to develop your products “100 percent. It’s a real issue,” says Davies

The leaders of the companies discussed above all agree that is a need for networking and patience in antiterrorism. Above all, you must network, say Heddwyn Davies, James Kirby and Peter Jaco. Here is a distillation of their advice to other U.K. companies eager to do business in the United States::

* Identify the right market and stay focused. There are likely to be lots of different market opportunities for your technology, so identify the key markets first.

* Build relationships with leaders in that field, often the prime contractors. Securing their contacts and backing is vital.

* Be prepared not to be able to talk about programs you are working on. Given the sensitivity of many of the programs, you may have to enter into non-disclosure agreements with potential backers.

* Lead times can be longer than you think. In spite of the amount of money flooding into the homeland security sector, do not expect things to happen quickly. Governments often take longer than expected to make up their minds. “Things will probably take twice as long as people expect, probably longer,” says Davies.

* Running a start-up serving demanding U.S. and global customers can be a 24-hour business. For Mr Kirby at Aurix, the day often shifts to spending afternoons and evenings teleconferencing and Web-conferencing with customers — “so mornings become precious for internal meetings and catching up with e-mails.” He adds: “Having an understanding family really helps.”