WitFoo Expands in Christchurch with Student Hires
News related to:WitFoo · 2 min read
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND, October 9, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- WitFoo, a cybersecurity company, has announced a significant expansion of its operations in Christchurch, New Zealand, by offering its first local role to a University of Canterbury (UC) student and doubling its sponsorship of final-year projects in the region. The company, which has been operating in New Zealand since 2016, has now moved its international commercial operations to Christchurch. This strategic move underscores WitFoo's commitment to the local tech ecosystem and its vision for Christchurch as a hub for innovation.
WitFoo has committed to sponsoring four final-year projects in the University of Canterbury's Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering in 2027, up from the two projects it sponsored in 2026. The company has also pledged to fund a PhD scholarship in computer science at UC, with the scholarship expected to begin in 2027. This investment in local talent and research is a testament to WitFoo's growing commitment to the region and its potential to become a global cybersecurity leader.
The University of Canterbury student whose final-year project WitFoo sponsored has been offered a role as a Junior Software Engineer with WitFoo Limited. This role marks WitFoo's first local employment opportunity in Christchurch. The student, Dylan Costello, designed a system that allows WitFoo's Analytics platform to run as a coordinated cluster across multiple machines. His project, one of two WitFoo sponsored this year, was a real-world industry challenge that helped Costello cement his understanding of concepts taught at UC.
Matthew Schwartfeger, the second WitFoo-sponsored student, worked on benchmarking caching and mapping strategies to optimize graph processing at the heart of the Analytics platform. His project focused on performance optimization and memory usage, providing him with valuable experience in real-world application development.
Ben Irvine, a third WitFoo-sponsored student, worked with WitFoo's open data rather than a sponsorship. He evaluated research-provenance intrusion detection systems on the Precinct 6 Cybersecurity Dataset, which WitFoo produced in collaboration with UC's Computer Science and Software Engineering department. Irvine's work involved making the dataset more reflective of real-world operational environments, including embedding attacks naturally among normal activity.
WitFoo's Chairman and co-founder, Charles Herring, expressed enthusiasm about Christchurch's potential as a hub for innovation.
The University of Canterbury's Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering has been a key partner in WitFoo's growth. Associate Professor Etienne Borde, who coordinates the department's software engineering research projects course with industry, noted the value of these projects.
WitFoo's expansion in Christchurch has also led to interdisciplinary research collaborations. Following an introduction from Borde, WitFoo and Dr. Chat Le Nguyen of UC's Faculty of Law have begun exploring how organizations can share cybersecurity evidence, including privacy and machine-generated evidence used by law enforcement.
The University of Canterbury's Media Department has organized a showcase of the university's final-year projects, including presentations by Irvine, Costello, and Schwartfeger. The showcase will be held on Friday, October 16th, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Novotel Christchurch Cathedral Square. Irvine's presentation will take place at 10:30 AM, and Costello and Schwartfeger's presentations will be from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM.
WitFoo's expansion in Christchurch is expected to further strengthen the collaboration between the company and the University of Canterbury, fostering a mutually beneficial relationship that benefits both the university's students and the company's growth.