South African technology start-up Black Beard, which has been in business for nearly two years, has opened offices in Dublin, Ireland.
The start-up already has a presence in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town.
Gaining access to the talent base in Dublin was one of the key drivers for expanding to Dublin, says Wayne Zwiers, Black Beard CEO and co-founder.
He adds: "We had exciting projects with potential there, so when the opportunity arose, we went for it head-on.
"Our vision has always been that of a global technology business and we therefore focused our efforts and innovation not only on local opportunities, but on opportunities on a worldwide level. Being agile in our thinking and not just in delivery has given us the advantage to meet such rapid growth," says Zwiers.
"Dublin is home to one of the world's fastest-growing tech scenes, and the country also houses the European headquarters for multinational companies such as Facebook, Twitter, eBay and Goldman Sachs," he continues. "We can now service our European partners out of Dublin, which is an attractive gateway to the European Union."
The company has plans to establish an office in Eastern Europe later this year, as its largest client is based in Switzerland and is rolling out their business throughout Europe and Asia Pacific, notes Zwiers. "We needed to expand our operations to cater for such growth.
"Although we started out as a technology company that built tech solutions for businesses, we are now building pioneering platforms that become businesses in their own right.
"Our current focus is on building technology for markets whereby they cease to function in a regular manner: which is a scenario typically characterised by rapid market declines on a large scale."
Some of Black Beard's most recent projects and solutions include the Outsurance main branded site, Anchor Capital main site and Discovery Foundation site.
"As a company that has disruptive innovation as its core focus, it is incredibly exciting to be operating in the dynamic tech hub of Dublin, with easy access to the European Union and beyond.
"Our work is pushing boundaries in artificial intelligence, augmented reality and machine learning; and operating within key global tech hubs will enable us to build groundbreaking solutions for our partners."
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