California expansion for Sunshine Coast tech's quiet achiever

Messaging platform developer Atmail has opened its first office in the US after years of double-digital growth.

The company is one of the secret successes of the Australian tech sector: it started in the lazy beach community of Peregian on the Sunshine Coast and now counts major American companies such as Charter Communications and GoDaddy subsidiary Media Temple among its customers.

Thousands of clients use Atmail webmail and web server software, powering tens of millions of email accounts globally.

[Read CRN's in-depth profile of Atmail]

Atmail CEO Zach Johnson said: "Historically, at least 50 percent of our business has come from the US, and that trend isn’t going to change in the near future.

"In fact, we’re getting some larger customers in the US who have justifiably higher expectations in terms of service."

Some of its other significant US accounts include Ethan Allen and LegalShield and public institutions including California Institute of Technology and Duke University.

Atmail chose Santa Monica over Silicon Valley to connect with new types of talent, according to Johnson.

"The talent pool in Los Angeles, with the explosion of its tech community, is quite attractive, and there is currently a spotlight on the area given some of the recent major acquisitions by the likes of Apple and Facebook."