GoPro expands at Cardiff office, adds employees

GoPro, a company that develops and manufactures personal cameras for action sports, recently took over more space at its Cardiff office and added employees.

The company, which previously occupied the bottom floor of its 131 Aberdeen Drive site, began renting the entire building about three months ago. And GoPro now has 70 employees at the office, up from 20 last year.

“In Cardiff the bulk of the hiring has been for software developers and some on the marketing side,” said Rick Loughery, GoPro’s director of global media relations.

Loughery said the software developers are working on a video editing software called GoPro Studio, as well as an app that encourages users to share content.

In recent months, GoPro has focused not only on making cameras, but also becoming a media company by monetizing content.

The company first opened a small office next to Pipe’s Café in 2011.

In 2012, GoPro acquired CineForm, a firm specializing in video compression software. GoPro then moved its employees and CineForm to the Aberdeen Drive building, across from Besta-Wan Pizza House.

GoPro is based in San Mateo. It also has an office in Munich.

“Our roots are in action sports, and this area in North County is really the epicenter for action sports,” Loughery said of why the company chose Cardiff. “In addition to surfing and skating, you have snowboarding businesses and a lot of action sports athletes here.”

Nicholas Woodman, a UC San Diego graduate, founded GoPro.