Chances are, you haven’t heard of Polecat. Well neither had we until they joined the TechSPARK community earlier this month and we looked into the incredible journey the business has been on over the last 10 years.
Founded by two previous Microsoft Executives, this software company allows businesses to track, manage and measure their corporate reputation. Using advanced data analytics, their clients (who include a number of the world’s biggest corporations) can turn big data into actionable insights. From managing their own image, to looking at how other organisations have tackled similar announcements and issues, so that they can implement a strategy using the data gathered from the risk intelligence platform. All this lets their customers explore and visualise trends, issues and influencers specific to their operations, monitor potential risks, correlate and drill down into the source data and receive targeted alerts to those items and areas that are most important to them.
Which is all pretty cool, right?
Polecat has become one of a number of organisations to base their tech team exclusively in Bristol, and they’re growing rapidly. Currently standing at around 30 people (a mixture of engineering, devops, data science, product management and product marketing) the pet-friendly office at Temple Studios certainly had a relaxed vibe when we visited.
They’ve taken a proactive approach to creating an environment where work-life balance and flexible working go hand in hand with rapid growth and entrepreneurial opportunities. Speaking to Cherry Ainsworth, their Head of Talent Acquisition, she said “we are totally against the old-fashioned 9-5 office based ideal that most companies conform to. We believe that engaged and smart individuals can do fantastic work by being given the freedom to mould that around their personal lives and outside commitments. With the advent of technology, we’re all able to communicate and collaborate super easily regardless of location.”
Polecat’s tech has evolved significantly over the last 10 years, along with their client base and they have grown to have presences in London, Washington DC, New York and California. Alongside this growth, they were backed by some top investors last year; setting them up for an incredibly successful 2018, with 2019 shaping up to look equally as fruitful. Being a scale-up with an experienced CTO at the helm there is still plenty of opportunity to for this business to make a further impact. We’re hoping to be hearing much more from these guys in the years to come.
If you are interested in finding out more about Polecat, their tech and what it is like to work for them – then check out their website or LinkedIn.
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