Buoyed by success in helping boost security at seaports, a Fort Lauderdale-based consulting group has raised $1.5 million in a private placement and is expanding its reach to fight terrorism and other threats to railroads and oil depots.
Mobius Security Group LLC, the parent company for SeaSecure LLC, said it will use some cash to hire staff and open additional U.S. offices for its two new units: RailSecure LLC and EnergySecure LLC.
The group also will invest some proceeds in new security training materials and software, Chairman Kim E. Petersen said in a statement released late Thursday.
The move underscores the boom in the security business after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
Mobius is amassing an experienced team including former military brass, CIA agents and transport specialists for its security consultancies.
Its new RailSecure unit named John P. Hart as chief executive. Hart is the former chairman of the Broward County Commission, ex-mayor of North Lauderdale and former executive vice president of engineering firm Keith & Schnars PA of Fort Lauderdale.
The expansion builds on the success of maritime consultancy SeaSecure, which launched with four employees only a few months before the 9-11 attacks.
By last summer, as new maritime security rules took effect worldwide, the company had grown to 14 employees, with offices in Hong Kong and Russia, and projections that it would top $2 million in annual revenues. Clients included the Florida Ports Council, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the governments of China, Aruba and Turkey.
Expanding beyond ships and piers was a natural progression for the security consultancy, because seaports often link with railroads and oil depots, executives said.
Details on hiring and new U.S. offices were not disclosed.
