Dublin-based mobile security solutions provider Sentry Wireless is on the cusp of seizing a tidy slice of the lucrative global anti-spam market thanks to its patented SIM firewall technology. Started by Matt Norton and Ciaran Bradley in late 2006, the company is making impressive inroads in Asia and its KidSafe solution is already giving parents peace of mind, enabling them to apply parental controls to their children's mobile usage. We caught up with Norton to find out more.

What's the concept?
We own the concept of the firewall on the SIM from which you can develop multiple applications, from parental control, to cost and expenditure control, as well as preventing SMS spam and enabling mobile payments.

Why's it unique?
It's patented award-winning technology. Sentry was named the most innovative mobile start-up in the Asia Pacific by the GSM Association (the association of mobile operators) following the launch of our parental control solution. We also won a Golden Spider award for usability. One of the main benefits of having an app on the SIM is it avoids integration with networks. It makes deployment more straightforward, mainstream and reduces risk.

Where are you now?
Geographically we're headquartered in Dublin and have an office in London. We've just completed a second round of funding and expect to complete a follow-on round by Christmas. We're going to live customer trials of our expenditure solution CallGuard in France and will trial our anti-spam product in Asia from October.

Where will you be in two years?
I would see us being more focused on anti-spam as it offers us the biggest strategic opportunities. I would expect significant deployment in the Middle East, Asia and India. We may have gone through Series A funding by then and be scaling up rapidly. We'll have approximately 50 employees where today we have 10.

Who's backed you?
We've put in our own capital, plus had a small seed round from angels and friends and family. We then secured significant funding from Enterprise Ireland, which has been an active shareholder and business partner. It's enabled us to leverage more than 30 offices it has globally and assisted with lead generation, sales follow-up and closing deals.

How much did you get?
I'd prefer not to say how much we received from Enterprise Ireland. It was significant though.

When did you raise it?
We took a relatively small seed capital round in 2007 and we'll complete a second phase of our follow-on round soon.

How long before the cheque cleared?
At the end of 2007 it took six weeks to two months. It then took seven to eight months to get the interim round over the line and will be 10 to 11 months before we complete. It's a reflection of the economic climate. Numerous investors have said that 18 months ago they wouldn't have hesitated and we'd have been about to get €1m to €2m virtually the next day. Even a year ago €100,000 to €200,000 would have been almost instant. Now even €25,000 gets serious consideration.

What did it teach you?
You've got to have a very clear customer proposition and have to find a hook to engage the investor. Not all will be interested, so you've got to knock on doors. You have to be ready from day one to follow-up as if you leave it three weeks after a pitch the deal will go cold. The business plan should still evolve throughout though.

How has investment improved the business?
It gives lifeblood to the business as an additional resource for a software house. It has increased our product development capacity and enabled us to scale up to mobile carrier grade.

Tell us something that would help another entrepreneur keep an investor happy.
Talk to them frequently, even when you don't have news. It varies for the investor, but for some it's every one to two weeks, others it's a quarterly presentation.

Why should we keep an eye on you?
We're going to dominate the anti-spam market. Sentry Wireless firewall will be on every SIM card.