Intel to acquire Australian tech company Sensory Networks for $21 million
October 1, 2013 Leave a comment
Intel to acquire Australian tech company Sensory Networks for $21 million
October 1, 2013 – 11:23AM
Ben Grubb
Matt Barrie: Co-founded Sensory Networks in 2003. Photo: Louie Douvis
A technology company founded in Australia in 2003 has agreed to be acquired by Intel. Sensory Networks, which creates pattern matching and acceleration software technology, agreed to sell to Intel for about $US20 million ($21.5 million), a source familiar with the matter said. All of Sensory Networks’ employees are expected to join Intel, another source said. An Intel spokesman, Chris Kraeuter, confirmed the deal but had no comment about its terms.Geoff Langdale, chief technology officer at Sensory Networks, told Fairfax Media his company was “happy to be in the process of closing a deal with Intel for the sale of Sensory Networks”.
“Our products are the result of years of hard work by the whole team and we’re proud of what we’ve done so far, showing that Australian engineering can be globally competitive,” he said.
The deal would help take Sensory’s business and software technology to a new level, he said.
Sensory Network’s pattern matching and acceleration software technology is used in firewalls and to detect email spam and viruses, amongst other things.
The company was founded in 2003 by a number of Australian technology entrepreneurs,including Matt Barrie, who later left to found Freelancer.com. Other co-founders included Nicholas de Jong and Darren Williams, who now also work at Freelancer.
Stephen Gould, who is now a senior lecturer at the Australian National University, was also a co-founder.
Sensory Networks began as a hardware business but became software-focussed in 2009. Until now it had raised about $US30 million in venture capital.
At present there are five employees at the company, many of whom have employee share options. All but one are based in Australia, with its chief executive, Sab Gosal, based in the US. The employees, and co-founders who have since left the company, are expected to benefit from the Intel deal.
Barrie said the deal was another example of an Australian start-up success story.
“The technology is probably some of the best that Australia has ever produced.”
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