For Jason Hood and his colleagues at Stratascale, it made sense to move their headquarters from Texas to Charlotte’s bustling uptown area — after all, that’s where most of their customers live.
The cybersecurity company protects the data and assets of its clients, most of whom are Fortune 1000 companies, from computer hackers and digital attacks.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the company celebrated its move with a bang at One Independence Center, 101 N. Tryon St., in mid-September.
But that’s not the company’s only reason for coming here.
“We also saw a lot of growth happening in the area, particularly in technology,” Hood, the COO, told the Charlotte Observer. “We wanted to be a key part of that as we expand into the Uptown area and take advantage of other connections in the area.”
One of the company’s major clients is Charlotte-based Truist Insurance Holdings, and other partners include Critical Start, CyberArk, Sumo Logic, Crowdstrike, Proofpoint, Tanium and Dataminr.
What’s inside?
Stratascale’s new 19,000-square-foot office includes an executive briefing center for leaders, a production studio, and a separate center for operations. Employees work with clients 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect against cyberattacks and breaches.
Hood said Stratascale has the opportunity to expand by adding more office space on the same floor in the same building.
The company’s headquarters currently employs 25 people and is expected to add 50 by the end of the year. It has office space for more than 100 employees. Stratascale plans to hire more staff to fill out the headquarters. Hood said there are about 30 job openings in the Charlotte area.
“Charlotte’s tech ecosystem is growing rapidly and we want to be at the center of it,” senior vice president David Olzak said in a news release. “When we conceived our headquarters, we envisioned a dynamic, vibrant space where customers, partners and team members could interact and nurture ideas. We’re thrilled to have our vision come to fruition and have the opportunity to be a driving force in cybersecurity in Charlotte.”
Learn more about Stratascale
Stratascale was founded in 2020 and is a subsidiary of New Jersey-based SHI International Inc. Hood said it previously operated out of SHI’s Austin, Texas, office, with employees working virtually across the U.S. Stratascale currently has 200 employees.
One of the services offered is helping clients understand the attacks, the risks, and how to protect themselves. For example, Stratascale provides training to organizations that can be the first line of defense, helping employees know not to open suspicious phishing emails. Phishing occurs when an email appears trustworthy but uses deception to gain information or access to online accounts.
“We are increasingly seeing the potential for cyber attacks within organizations, and we’ve seen a lot of those attacks in the news recently,” Hood said. “These are not necessarily our clients, but we know it’s important to continue to focus on cybersecurity overall. We know the impact on business is growing, and we know the risk is growing as the number of potential attacks increases.”
In addition to cybersecurity services, Stratascale also offers business consulting services and digital solutions to help solve technology problems.
The company has partnered with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s School of Computing and Informatics, which company officials say will play a key role in nurturing young talent in the area through internships.
