Digital Island has moved its corporate headquarters from Honolulu to existing offices in San Francisco. The company, which was originally founded in Honolulu because of the abundance of local fiber optic communications circuits, the proximity to Asia and the fact that Honolulu is immune to North American internet congestion, seems to have simply outgrown Hawaii.
A recent private placement of $50m (CI No 3,625) is expected to spur rapid growth, especially of head count. By moving its HQ, Digital Island hopes to be in a better position to recruit engineers from Silicon Valley and to greatly increase the number of employees in San Francisco. Growth in intellectual capital will continue to be a top priority, said president and CEO Ruann Ernst in a statement.
Hiring will not, however, be indiscriminate: While we forecast rapid growth in this area fueled by our recent infusion of capital, we will strictly adhere to our recruiting policy of hiring only the top 10%, Ernst said. The company will continue to maintain its data centers in Honolulu, San Francisco, New York and London and its European HQ in Geneva.
