Q1 Labs, an online security provider founded in Fredericton in 2001, has been purchased by IBM Corp. for an undisclosed price – the second New Brunswick-born tech company to exit this year.

The sale of Q1, which is now based in Waltham, Ma., but retains a strong presence in Fredericton, follows the $371 million sale of Radian6 to Salesforce.com of San Francisco. Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association recently named that sale the Deal of the Year for 2012.

The sale of Q1 Labs will only accentuate the growing feeling in New Brunswick that its tech sector is flourishing, buttressed by the support of such mentors and backers as Mariner Partners chairman Gerry Pond and Propel ICT. Pond at Invest Atlantic last month said he believed there would be other exits as notable as Radian 6 and listed Q1 Labs as a likely candidate.

“It illustrates just how much momentum that our sector currently has in the province and emphasizes how critical it is to have programs like Propel driving the development of the next generation of high growth companies to keep up the pace,” said Propel Executive Director Trevor MacAusland today.

A spinout from the University of New Brunswick, Q1 Labs was founded by some of the people who went on to open Radian6 and has had several rounds of venture capital backing from such outfits as Polaris Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, BDC Venture Capital, Globespan Capital Partners and New Brunswick Investment Management Corp.

BDC Venture was also an investor in Radian6, which was its last investment in Atlantic Canada before closing its Halifax office in 2007. New Brunswick Investment Management Corp. is the pension fund for New Brunswick government employees and the only provincial pension plan in the region that allows venture capital investments.

After the deal closes in the fourth quarter, Q1 Labs will be a cornerstone in the creation of IBM Security Systems division, which Big Blue says is the world's most comprehensive security portfolio. The new division will be led by Q1 Labs CEO Brendan Hannigan.

“The new division will target a $94 billion opportunity in security software and services, which has a nearly 12 percent compound annual growth rate, according to IBM estimates,’’ said a statement from the buyer. “Q1 Labs will join the more than 10 strategic security acquisitions IBM has made in the last decade and the more than 25 analytics-related purchases, including the recently announced acquisition of security analytics software firm, i2.”