Phil Castle, The Business Times

Rob Eggebrecht expected the cybersecurity company he helped found to grow. Just not this quickly.

Asked to describe that growth in a word, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Cloudrise, chose “meteoric.”

“It’s been faster than any company I’ve been involved with in my startup life,” Eggebrecht said.
“It’s just been a phenomenal journey so far with these people.”

The acquisition of CyberOrchard, an information security firm located in the United Kingdom, further expands the global operation and adds to the expertise the company offers customers, Eggebrecht said.

Cloudrise also obtained in the transaction a new chief technology officer in Jason Bird, founder and CEO of CyberOrchard.

Based in Grand Junction, Cloudrise recently moved into a new location at the Las Colonias Business Park and has expanded the staff working there.

Eggebrecht envisions a time in the not-too-distant future in which Cloudrise will employ 200 to 300 people in Grand Junction.

Cloudrise offers a range of services to companies large and small, Eggebrecht said, in assessing their capabilities to protect their most important data and providing automated processes and other resources to do so. “For us, it’s all about the data.”

Cloudrise works with health care and insurance companies as well as firms in the technical, communications and financial services sectors. Customers are located in 22 countries, he said.

The company has an advantage, he said, in its speed and agility.

Eggebrecht and his co-founders launched Cloudrise in Denver in October 2019. They brought to the venture decades of experience with data protection in working for other companies as well as operating their own firm.

They relocated Cloudrise in 2021 to Grand Junction and what Eggebrecht said he considers a more authentic part of Colorado offering scenic vistas and outdoor recreation.

Eggebrecht said he also was impressed by Colorado Mesa University and the skills of the students there.

Eggebrecht subsequently became chairman of an industry advisory council for the computer science and cybersecurity programs at CMU. He helps prepares students to work in the industry and also recruits students for internships and employment.

Cloudrise operated for a while in the Maverick Innovation Center on the CMU campus, but recently moved to the Las Colonias Business Park and a building there that also houses the Bonsai Design adventure course and zipline company.

Cloudrise announced on April 6 the company acquired CyberOrchard. The transaction adds what Eggebrecht said is some of the greatest technical talent in the world in data protection. With its location in a suburb of London, the addition of the firm also helps in accommodating a global operation, he said.

As the new chief technology officer of Cloudrise, Bird brings to his new position more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity as well as data governance and managed services. 

“Data protection is becoming more complex every day, and at Cloudrise we believe collaboration is the path to better protection for our clients,” Bird stated in a news release.

In addition to the acquisition, Cloudrise announced Netskope named Cloudrise as its Global Services Partner of the Year. A U.S. software company, Netskope provides a computer security platform.

CRN named Cloudrise to its list of the top managed service providers for 2022.

In 2021, Cloudrise was among the winners of the Colorado Companies to Watch Program.

Eggebrecht said the recognitions confirm the ability of Cloudrise to compete against much larger companies. “We punch way above our weight.”

With the acquisition, the staff at Cloudrise has grown to 50 with a small group of executives and service delivery staff working out of Grand Junction.

But Eggebrecht said he expects the staff in Grand Junction to grow along with the company — perhaps to 200 to 300.

And that in turn will promote still more growth not only in terms of economic development for the Grand Valley, but also in personal development for individuals and their families, he said.