Technology

Posted on September 1, 2016 by staff

Fitbit opens Dublin HQ to serve EMEA region

Technology

Fitbit has opened new headquarters in Dublin and expects to create 50 jobs by the end of the year.

The new offices in Ireland will house the strategic business functions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Roles in senior management, sales, marketing, operations, finance and customer support will be created to provide targeted support to the millions of Fitbit users across the region.

Irishman Des Power, who has held various leadership roles at Philips and Harman International, will serve as MD for the region.

“Fitbit is one of the world’s most popular and fastest growing health and wellness companies, and I am delighted that they have selected Ireland as the location for their EMEA headquarters as it will provide exciting employment opportunities for our skilled workers,” said Irish minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

“I wish Des Power and his team the utmost success in the coming years.”

The company, which boasts 150 per cent year-over-year revenue growth in the European region, has room to employ up to 100 people in Dublin by the end of 2017.

“We’ve seen Dublin become a strategic hub for the technology industry as a centre for innovation and sourcing top talent in the region,” said Fitbit CEO and co-founder James Park.

“We look forward to building a strong team here to complement our offices around the world.”

A tech expert told BusinessCloud that wearable technology will be replaced by implantable technology in the future.

Fitbit, which was founded in 2007, has shipped almost 50 million devices globally and helps people exercise more, eat smarter, track their sleep and manage their weight.

The platform supports five European languages.

Joanna Berry, consultant at UK law firm Mills and Reeve, told a roundtable that the growing Internet of Things phenomenon could be “a complete field day for a data protection lawyer” .