US FinTech company creates 100 jobs in Northern Ireland

A New York cybersecurity company is to set up a new technology centre in Belfast, creating 100 jobs.

Agio provides artificial intelligence tech for the financial services sector.

Nineteen of the roles – a team of tech engineers – have already been filled.

The additional roles, which will be filled over the next five years, will be a mix of home-based positions and jobs located at Agio’s new tech centre at Urban HQ.

Stormont business support agency Invest NI has offered £650,000 to support the project, which will generate £4.5 million worth of annual salaries to the economy.

The move represents somewhat of a homecoming for Agio’s chief revenue officer, Garvin McKee, who is originally from Northern Ireland.

“We’ve got great customer feedback on their experience with our Belfast engineers,” he said. “We are confident that a Northern Ireland base will continue to add excellent talent to our service organisation.”

The company operates a “follow the sun” model so it can provide a 24/7 service to customers from employees based at locations around the world.

Mr McKee made clear that the investment was not influenced by Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol, as the services sector in which Agio operates is not covered by that trading arrangement.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons welcomed the announcement at Invest NI HQ in Belfast on Monday morning.

He said Agio will add to the growing cluster of FinTech companies operating in Northern Ireland.

“Agio’s investment here will add to our pool of expertise, and will lead to the creation of 100 high-quality technology jobs over the next five years,” he said.

“Investment such as this will play an important role in building our economic recovery.”

Invest NI chief executive Kevin Holland said: “We’ve been working with Agio since 2019 to showcase our local tech talent through introductions to universities, colleges and existing investors.

“I am delighted that this has led to investment in Northern Ireland. It is clear that technology will play a significant part in Northern Ireland’s growth, and this project will make an important contribution to the ICT sector as we move forward post-pandemic.”