In 2003, SpamMatters CEO David Jones and a business partner realised that spam and Internet crime were merging -- so they developed a system that would help track down spammers by handling reports submitted by the public to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
- Introduction
- SecureWrap
- Webit
- Cleartext
- QMSoftware
- SpamMatters
Jones, who previously founded an e-mail filtering company that was eventually sold to SurfControl, says SpamMatters is also developing an appliance for the corporate market that will provide faster protection against mail-borne malware than is offered by the antivirus vendors. The initial target will be 500- to 5000-employee organisations, but Jones says the technology will ultimately have application right down to the home market.
Without giving too much away, he says the new system will collect information from honey pots and spam traps as well as human reports, using forensic processing to detect malicious code and sites, phishing, spam, and other e-mail-borne activity.
The flagship product is expected to ship by the end of 2005, with additional announcements through to September 2006.
"There's a vibrant venture capital market locally, and we have venture capital funding," Jones says. Although he adds that the local environment is "challenging", especially when you look at the amount of investment money available to US startups. "At some stage you have to have a US presence to attract customers and investment."
But it's a two-way street: the level of venture capital activity in the US brings in more competitors much faster than in Australia, which makes it harder to break though the market noise.
While exports may be an important part of growth Jones says the founders need to be very focussed on establishing a foothold with customers in Australia before looking overseas, as satisfied customers and proven products generate credibility, while domestic profits can be invested in the development of new products. Globalisation means people are making buying decisions largely on brands, so it can be hard for a new Australian company to break through.
Jones says starting a technology company "is very tough, it needs a lot of commitment, and you need good quality people."
This article was first published in Technology & Business magazine.
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