US computer networking company opens €4.75m international HQ in Cork
James Cox
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney has officially opened a new €4.75 million international headquarters for Netgear, Inc in Cork.
Netgear is a "provider of award-winning connected products designed to simplify and improve people's lives, in the award-winning Penrose Dock development within Cork city’s Victorian Quarter".
Headquartered in San Jose, California, Netgear first established its international headquarters in Cork in 2006 and today employs 46 people across multiple functions including finance, customer operations, logistics & distribution, digital marketing, data operations, HR, legal, customer support & advocacy, support engineering, sales and IT support in Ireland.
Netgear has "pioneered advanced networking technologies for homes, businesses, and service providers around the world for nearly three decades".
The compan said it is going through an "evolutionary change" to row its software subscription services to complement its hardware offerings.
The new office opening comes as Netgear plans to create a software development centre of excellence in Cork as part of its plans to continue to develop its software engineering capability.
The centre will focus on building industry-leading applications such as those that support Netgear’s Orbi and Nighthawk premium products for the connected home. C
Current value-added services include Armor, Powered by Bitdefender, which provides an automatic shield of security for all WiFi and connected devices in the home, and Netgear Smart Parental Controls which helps parents easily manage their family’s time online and build healthy habits.
Mr Coveney said: “It’s great to see Netgear deepen its investment in Cork with the opening of its new International HQ at Penrose Dock. It’s 17 years since Netgear first established its presence in Cork and the company has been a fantastic contributor to the local economy and life in Cork. Long may that continue.”
“Netgear has a strong track record in Cork, Ireland, having established our international headquarters here in 2006,” said Dr Martin Westhead, chief technology officer at Netgear.
“Building a software development centre of excellence in Ireland, is an important and exciting step on our path to accelerate our transformation towards becoming a more software-centric company. Ireland’s geographic location between the US and other global sites combined with the pipeline of highly educated and diverse talent found here, make it an ideal location to expand our software development capabilities.”
