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In 2007, a police officer in Waterloo stepped down from his position due to a cancer diagnosis. Following chemotherapy, Jad Saliba returned to work in another department—digital forensics—where he stumbled upon a hole that he soon realized could use some serious filling.
To become better at his new job, Saliba developed software that allows an investigator to locate and analyze digital evidence across multiple devices in an automated fashion. Because of its inherent usefulness in his line of work, Saliba’s software quickly spread among colleagues and then agencies.
In 2010, the former officer pivoted to entrepreneur as he founded Magnet Forensics. One year later Saliba left his job at the department to pursue his startup fully.
Fast forward a decade and the Waterloo-born startup has gone public. Following an IPO at $17 per share, Magnet Forensics began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in late April under the ticker MAGT.
The Canadian company’s first quarterly earnings report, released this month for the period ending March 31, saw nearly $15 million in revenue earned, marking a 25% increase. More than three-quarters of Magnet’s revenue comes from recurring sources.
Adam Belsher, CEO of Magnet, believes that new customers drove much of the company’s revenue boost. And that higher revenue increased quarterly profit by a substantial margin, too.
“Magnet Forensics won new customers and expanded our existing accounts across our public and private sector markets,” he said in a statement, which “delivered top-line growth of 25% in the quarter and increased our annual recurring revenue to $44 million for the end of the period.”
Belsher noted that Magnet’s product—investigation software that acquires, analyzes, reports on, and manages evidence from digital sources—solves a sizeable problem in a crucial field of work.
“Our innovative solutions help our customers investigate cyberattacks and digital crimes, which is a large and growing market,” the CEO explains. “We have the technology, the team—and with our recent IPO, the capital—to aggressively pursue this market.”
As Chief Technology Officer, Jad Saliba remains an integral part of the company he built from scratch all those years ago. Today, Magnet’s products are used by over 4,000 public and private sector organizations across almost half the countries in the world. He is proud of these achievements, yet knows his organization is only just beginning on its path.
If a tech company that helps investigators fight crime, protect assets, and guard national security sounds interesting to you, know that Magnet Forensics is hiring at the upcoming Tech Talent Canada Job Fair. The job fair, happening June 23rd, is a unique recruiting event that connects fast growing companies with top tech talent.