A New Zealand-based business is set to open a new headquarters in Cheltenham.

Cyber intelligence services pioneer, Darkscope, is heading for the town, as Gloucestershire continues to gain traction as a high potential destination for expanding international cyber tech businesses.

Its premium platform, Darkscope Watchtower, can aggregate millions of threat indicators in real time to identify new attacks, redefining the cyber intelligence landscape.

Invest in Gloucestershire, the county's leading inward investment programme, has worked hard to attract foreign-owned businesses looking to have a presence in the UK to the county. It has worked with key stakeholders in the eco-system and created bespoke orientation visits to Gloucestershire.

The team has been in discussions with Darkscope, an award winning, AI-powered cyber intelligence company, since January.

Morten Steen Mjels, chief operating officer, visited the county in March. He met with several key stakeholders, including the National Cyber Security Centre, CyNam and Plexal, as well as academic leads at Gloucestershire College. Site visits were also carried out to commercial premises at Hub 8, Clockwise and Eagle Tower.

The company was so impressed with the Gloucestershire offer that it has signed a service agreement with Hub8 and confirmed it will be establishing its EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) HQ in Cheltenham.

This will include an incident response capability, as well as pre-sales and sales teams, creating at least 12 new roles in the town. Darkscope is also keen to collaborate with Gloucestershire College, working with cyber and technology students.

Phil Clement, head of inward investment at Invest in Gloucestershire, said: "We are delighted to welcome this award-winning company from New Zealand into our fast-expanding security eco-system. This investment is a great example of the global reach that Gloucestershire has in this vital sector."

Morten Steen Mjels, COO at Darkscope, said: "Gloucestershire has fostered a unique ecosystem for the development of cybersecurity and intelligence technology, which we don't see anywhere else. We look forward to making Hub8 our home for Darkscope EMEA and becoming a valuable player in the incredible cyber community being nurtured here."

To find out how the Invest in Gloucestershire team can support your business, please contact suzie.lew@gloucestershire.gov.uk.