Case
Study
Tarmin Inc, a specialist provider of data management and storage technologies, has grown from a start-up in Essex to a leading international player in just over five years.
The company, which now has significant business operations in the United States and Europe, recognises the value of support from INVEST Essex during its critical growth phase at the Essex Innovation Centre in Ongar.
Award-winning technology
Tarmin’s GridBank™ Data Management Platform is a software solution that enables companies to meet the challenges and costs of managing escalating volumes of data and gain value from their information repositories. The software empowers organisations to store petabytes of data, control regulatory, legal and commercial risk and understand information, delivering business insights for enhanced decision making.
Recognition of Tarmin’s growing reputation came in the form of two prestigious Storage Industry Awards for GridBank in 2012. The company received Product of the Year awards in two categories – Storage monitoring and Email archiving and compliance. Tarmin was the only company to win two awards, ahead of major corporate rivals such as IBM, Dell and Oracle.
Fostering innovation
“These awards establish our growing reputation as a leader in the field,” says Shahbaz Ali, President and CEO of Tarmin Inc. “Building and enhancing a product like Gridbank requires millions of lines of code and is the culmination of years of dedicated work by our team.”
That team has grown from just two people in 2007 to twenty at offices in the UK and US. “The early work was completed at the Essex Innovation Centre, which proved a good base for a young technology company,” says Shahbaz Ali.
“Resources like the Essex Innovation Centre are important to growing companies,” says Sarah Bell, Sector Development Manager at INVEST Essex. “We want entrepreneurs to prosper in Essex and the Innovation Centre is an ideal base to develop a new business. Facilities and services are in place at affordable costs.”
Overcoming growth challenges
The company was able to attract early-stage investors during the research and development phase. However, the global recession in 2009 hit investor confidence badly and the company’s major investors pulled out, leaving Tarmin and eight other companies with serious funding problems.
The other companies did not survive. However, Shahbaz Ali and his co-founders were able to rebuild the company and recruit their original team with the support of INVEST Essex.
“David Adlington, head of inward investment at Essex County Council, recognised the potential of our company and our products,” says Shahbaz Ali. “He provided invaluable support as we re-established our business at the Essex Innovation Centre.”
International expansion
That confidence has proved justified as Tarmin has gone from strength to strength. The company has signed long-term contracts with major clients in the UK, US and Europe and has recently moved its US headquarters from Silicon Valley to Boston to meet growing demand.
“Essex has proved a great base to launch our business,” says Shahbaz Ali. “The support from INVEST Essex enabled us to recover and succeed when many other young technology companies struggled to survive.”
