Belfast, Northern Ireland.14 June 2022 – Kigen, a global specialist in eSIM & iSIM technology for Internet of Things (IoT) manufacturers, has appointed Stephen Halpenny as the company’s chief operating officer (COO). As COO, Stephen will work with Vincent Korstanje, CEO and the company’s newly appointed board of directors, to continue to support the company’s strategic directions for ambitious growth in the next phase.
“eSIM demand is at an all-time high in any industry undergoing rapid transformation from smart metering to telematics and mobility, and Kigen is well positioned to support customers tackling this change,” says Stephen Halpenny, COO, Kigen. “The combined expertise that Kigen brings in telecoms and chip to cloud security is a key differentiator, and a key part of our strategy is hiring talent to help us achieve our goals”.
Previously, Halpenny was Kigen’s chief revenue officer, being responsible for all sales, business development and commercial operations. As a co-founder of Simulity Labs, which was acquired by Arm in 2017 and incubated for pioneering at the edge of SIM Technology, Halpenny has played an integral role in the company’s strategy and business development. He brings more than 20 years of industry and entrepreneurial experience across global businesses. Halpenny will establish a collaborative centre of excellence on operations and customer success at the company’s headquarters in Belfast and in the company’s offices in Noida, India.
Founded as an independent company in 2020, Kigen has quadrupled revenue growth in that period, as digital transformation and security take centre stage in how businesses accelerate growth out of the pandemic. The company has reportedly seen 350% growth in the adoption of its eSIM OS which is highly optimised for the specific needs of energy-efficient and battery-reliant connected devices. The business has anchored deals with eight out of the 10 largest cellular module makers for its iSIM (Integrated SIM), which offers 98% reduction in silicon size by merging both chip and SIM into a single component. Counterpoint Research’s eSIM Competitive, Ranking & Evaluation Report for 2021 has ranked Kigen in fourth place in its global ranking of eSIM enablement leaders.
“Kigen is one of the fastest growing companies in the eSIM enablement landscape and has moved to fourth position globally in Counterpoint’s latest eSIM ecosystem evaluation. Kigen leads across eSIM firmware, security, and industry standards compliance leveraging strong partnerships across the value chain as also demonstrated with EAL5+ certified iSIM hardware building on the iSIM product launched back in 2019.” says Neil Shah, research VP at Counterpoint Research.
This growth has garnered investment from Softbank Vision Fund 2 and the company has appointed Jimi Macdonald, director at SoftBank Investment Advisers as chair of Kigen’s Board of Directors. With this investment, Kigen is setting its sights on growth banking on the expertise of its global teams attracting the best of the industry. A key part of this growth is Kigen’s Technical Excellence Centre in Noida, India. The company also announced the appointment of Papiya Raipal as Kigen’s country director for India starting in June. Papiya brings 20 years of experience within the security sector, most recently at Idemia where she grew technical teams across Noida and Jakarta.
“Establishing Kigen as a new company in the midst of the pandemic has resulted in us thinking differently about how flexibility, inclusivity and high trust are reflected in everything we do,” says Vincent Korstanje, CEO, Kigen. “We grow as individuals and as a company together and Kigen is poised for continued success with our extended leadership team.”
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