A little-known tech company in Naperville is helping companies deal with the increasing complexities of their IT network, and it's landing big-name clients like the State of California and the Department of Defense.
InterOptic, a company founded in 2005, sells fiber optic transceivers that connect data center equipment to the internet. For large companies these "data interconnects," as they're called, are a critical part of keeping their IT network running, and they become increasingly important as more and more devices are connected to the web.
It's nerdy stuff, for sure. But as CEO Tim Dixon explains, InterOptic can offer its product at a cost savings compared to big brands like Cisco and HP and help companies optimize these connections at scale without breaking the bank.
"We offer more flexibility at a more reasonable price," Dixon said.
The service has started to catch on with government agencies and large corporations. Some of InterOptic's customers include the Department of Defense, and Fortune 100 companies such as Exxon Mobil, Boeing, Comcast and Citigroup. In total, InterOptic has nearly 4,000 customers worldwide, which isn't bad for a suburban Chicago company with just 12 employees.
A typical purchase by a government client tends to come in bulk quantities of a couple million dollars each, Dixon said, and InterOptic has several customers that make those orders on a quarterly basis.
The company's investors include the Pritzker Group, who made a "fairly modest" investment in InterOptic in 2008 and another in 2013, Dixon said. But venture capital hasn't been a priority for the company, which has been "profitable since the early life of our business," Dixon added.
Last week InterOptic announced a deal with the state of California to use its technology at California State University, University of California systems, K-12 public schools and California Community Colleges.
Dixon said InterOptic has flown under the radar by design; they didn't want companies like Cisco knowing they were landing government contracts. But now the company is ready to make its presence known and tout its customer wins.
"Now is the time to come out really take a market position," he said. "We’ve always had a leadership position, but now we're making that known externally."
Images via InterOptic
