British cyber-security firm invests $1.2m in Singapore office, will hire 20 engineers over 3 years

Straits Times

2 days ago

Goldilock co-founder and co-CEO Stephen Kines with the Firebreak device after the launch event held at CyberSG TIG Collaboration Centre on June 2. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
SINGAPORE – British cyber-security firm Goldilock has invested $1.2 million to open an office in Singapore in July, and aims to hire about 20 engineers in the coming years.
The company has also received an additional $800,000 from the UK-Singapore Collaborative R&D fund by Britain's innovation agency Innovate UK and trade agency Enterprise Singapore. The two countries had signed the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement in 2022 to boost digital trade between them.
Goldilock will have five engineers – with additional support staff – in the first 1½ years of operation here, before expanding to 20 engineers over the next three years, its chief operating officer and co-founder Stephen Kines said on June 2.
The company will also look to reskill engineers in other fields, as it believes in bringing different perspectives to cyber security, he added.
'We're looking for engineers that can understand how to think differently about the network architecture, and look at how Goldilock can be deployed in those different situations,' he said.
Goldilock's entry in Singapore comes as the Republic's cyber-security workforce has grown in recent years, tripling from 4,000 in 2016 to 12,000 in 2022.
According to a report by US-based consulting firm Research and Markets, Singapore's cyber-security market is expected to double to US$4.82 billion (S$6.2 billion) by 2029.
Mr Kines was speaking at an event at the CyberSG Talent, Innovation and Growth (TIG) Collaboration Centre in Ayer Rajah on June 2.
The Singapore office – which will serve as Goldilock's Asia-Pacific headquarters – will be located in the Ubi area.
It is the third location for the five-year-old firm, after Britain and the United States.
Ms Rhiannon Harries, deputy trade commissioner for Asia Pacific (South-east Asia) at the UK Department for Business and Trade, described Britain and South-east Asia as 'natural partners' in technology, with a shared ambition for growth and innovation.
'I am pleased that Goldilock has opened its new office in Singapore, highlighting our cyber-security partnership that is going from strength to strength,' she said in a statement.
Goldilock's solutions protect users against cyber attacks by allowing them to segment and disconnect parts of their network they want to protect, Mr Kines said.
Users can send a text message which activates the technology and effectively pulls the plug on their systems, making it impossible for an attacker to access, he added.
'Think of it as an invisibility cloak – the attacker can't see and can't attack what isn't there,' he said.
He noted this is similar to what British retailer Co-Op did when faced with a cyber attack in May, reportedly taking its computer services offline to foil the attackers.
The company is named after the Goldilocks principle of finding a balance that is 'just right', just like in the fairy tale of the same name .
In the cyber-security company's case, it aims to find a balance between so-called 'hot storage', where data is quickly and easily accessible, and 'cold storage', which is isolated from the internet.
On June 2, Mr Kines also announced the company's new modular unit, which is designed to make its solutions more adaptable to different environments.
The technology presents an opportunity for the defence sector as well as other industries in the Asia-Pacific to enhance their cyber-security efforts, said Goldilock board senior adviser Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who attended the event.
'It's an opportunity to bring this brilliant UK invention to the region,' said Ms Trevelyan, who previously served as British Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific.
In September 2024, Goldilock was one of 10 companies selected to join the second phase of the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (Diana), a safety and security initiative by Nato, receiving up to €300,000 (S$440,730) in funding as well as other support.
It had been selected for Diana's first cohort a year earlier.
Mr Kines credited the 'invaluable support' of the CyberSG TIG Collaboration Centre, as well as the British High Commission in Singapore, for allowing Goldilock to make progress in the Asia-Pacific region.
The centre, a joint initiative by NUS and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, aims to establish Singapore as a global cyber-security innovation hub.
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