Web content management specialist records double digit growth and attracts US investor interest

A digital agency which specialises in deploying a cloud-based web content management (WCM) platform has recorded double digit growth – attracting interest from US investors. Cortex Worldwide, which is headquartered in Edinburgh, has increased its headcount to 35 as it scales to meet the demand from companies seeking to ‘create, deploy, analyse and optimise their digital estates’. Cortex counts a number of large UK and international enterprise clients among its customer base and is set to announce a series of new business wins, including one of the UK’s leading banks, and high-profile board appointments during the first half of 2020. Founded in 2014, Cortex Worldwide, the company went on to secure a management buyout from WPP plc in 2017; it is led by CEO and Founder Peter Proud, formerly a senior executive at Accenture and Microsoft, and the company’s board includes John Waddell, former CEO of Scottish angel investment group Archangels. Peter Proud, CEO and Founder of Cortex Worldwide, said: “We are now moving rapidly from a technology services company to a cloud-native global software business.  We have a fantastic team, a best-of-breed product and some exciting new client wins to announce over the next few weeks and months. Overall, we’ve got big ambitions and have set our sights on being one of the next big things to come out of the Scottish tech scene.” Cortex has attracted VC interest from the US over the last few months and is currently planning to launch offices in New York and London.  Peter Proud commented: “While the business continues to be self-funded and we think that’s the right approach at this point in time, we’re not ruling out VC involvement with the right investors if that enables us to really step up our growth trajectory.  The offices we are actively planning for New York and London mean we will be closer to our growing customer base in the US and Europe.” Cortex is also undergoing a major rebrand exercise that the company is aiming to launch in Q2.  Peter Proud said: “While our values and culture have remained constant, we are rebranding to better reflect how we help our clients drive digital transformation with a product that is now making a big impression with CIOs, CMOs and senior management teams at large corporates in the UK, Europe and the US.” Cortex became carbon neutral in 2019 following an extensive exercise that involved changing suppliers, offsetting emissions and implementing waste management processes. Peter Proud added: “We have incorporated high standards of ethics and sustainability into the business from day one. Not only do we believe that’s simply the right thing to do in our day and age, but translating these kind of core values into practice is becoming a bona fide requirement if you want to be a global technology company whose overall proposition appeals to a range of stakeholders including clients, employees and partners.”