This article was written by Sindy Yeh, Senior Business Ambassador for Arlington Economic Development.
In the past few months, we’ve noticed a trend among Arlington’s security technology companies.
Several innovative, fast-growing Arlington companies in the cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data analytics fields are being acquired by larger companies. In March, BluVector, a network security company applying artificial intelligence to detect cyber threats, became part of Comcast.
In the same month, Deep Learning Analytics, a data analytics company and winner of Arlington’s Fast Four competition three years in a row, was acquired by General Dynamics Mission Systems.
In May, eGlobalTech, a cybersecurity consulting and cloud security company, was acquired by Tetra Tech. In June, the pattern continued as Distil Networks, a leader in bot traffic detection and mitigation, became Imperva. And finally, Endgame, an endpoint security protection company, entered into an agreement with Elastic N.V., a data management firm from the Netherlands.
It comes as no surprise that so many of Arlington’s top cybersecurity firms were targeted for acquisition. These Arlington firms have developed niche products and services that are utilized by both government and commercial customers. Many of these companies are globally recognized leaders in their respective sectors.
By acquiring these firms, it allows the larger companies to further enhance their existing platforms by offering even more comprehensive and specialized solutions to their clients.
They also absorb the companies’ existing customers, often including government agencies whose mission it is to defend the nation from cyber threats, like the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.
Arlington is home to about 200 cybersecurity companies employing more than 5,000 people. These cyber-based acquisitions will most likely continue as more of Arlington’s cyber companies develop specialized products and solutions targeting industry needs.
It is a testament to Arlington that so many technology companies have not only chosen to locate in Arlington but have thrived and developed a rich ecosystem of innovative companies leveraging federal funding to create and develop new products and services with applications in the private sector.