California-based OpenPath to open Fishers office in Flexware project

Openpath, a California-based company offering cloud-enabled security systems, will launch a local outpost in a downtown Fishers office building this spring as both a tenant and a featured amenity.

In April 2018, software and engineering-services firm Flexware Innovation announced it would spend $3.5 million to build a 24,000-square-foot headquarters at 12 Municipal Drive. The project has since grown to $5.1 million and 30,000-square-feet, which includes 20,000 square feet for the headquarters and then room for tenants. CEO Scott Whitlock also has plans for another building on an adjacent parcel.

Openpath’s 1,400-square-foot satellite office in one of the four top-floor suites in Flexware’s headquarters will house five support employees when the building opens in April. It also plans to install its security technology in the building, according to Chief Marketing Officer Kieran Hannon.

The 4-year-old company provides commercial clients with encrypted building access control systems that can be integrated with an employee’s smart devices. It has already installed  devices at the HC Tavern + Kitchen and 1933 Lounge, across Interstate 69 in the Fishers District.

Openpath’s Fishers office will be its first major move outside of its home base in Los Angeles, where most of its 70 employees are based. It hired five employees in the Indianapolis area about a year ago who have been in temporary space. Openpath plans to make an announcement next month regarding plans for future hires.

“There’s a concentration of security manufacturers in the area, more than you’d see in other parts of the United States,” Hannon said. “We believe we are helping to further elevate that as physical security and cybersecurity converge over time.”

Whitlock and Flexware CFO Kevin Wilson plan to incorporate Openpath’s systems in three other buildings, including another on the municipal plaza, immediately southwest of the company’s new headquarters.

Originally planned as a two story building with 8,000-square-feet of office space, Whitlock said the adjacent project may now feature as much as 18,000-square-feet of leasable office space across three stories.

Whitlock said he expects to close on that property on or before July 1, and that construction will start by summer 2021.

No tenants have been announced for the new building, but both it and the headquarters building will offer short-term leases so Flexware can grow into the space if needed. Whitlock said Flexware has outgrown the 10,000-square-feet space the company has occupied at 9128 Technology Lane since 2003.

The company currently has 87 employees, and Whitlock is planning to reach 130 by the end of 2021.