An Irish company that makes software to help businesses interact with their customers better is to create at least 100 jobs in Dublin over the next 12 months.
The expansion by Intercom comes after the company secured $50m in new funding from a range of high profile technology industry leaders and venture capital firms.
Intercom was founded in 2011 by Eoghan McCabe, Des Traynor, Ciaran Lee and David Barrett.
The company's aim was to build a communication platform that would help personalise the relationship between businesses and their customers.
Since then it has grown rapidly, driven in part by almost $66m in funding it has raised in four separate tranches from leading tech investors.
It currently employs 250 people between its offices in Dublin and San Francisco. It also has 10,000 paying customers in 90 countries - twice what it had a year ago.
This morning the company revealed it had raised another $50m in fresh finance, and said it now has enough capital in the bank and will not need to raise any more.
The latest financing round has been led by Ilya Fushman of Index Ventures, who was previously the Head of Product at online file storage firm Dropbox.
Previous investors ICONIQ Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Social Capital also took part.
It is understood that John and Patrick Collison, the Irish brothers who co-founded the successful US based payment company Stripe, have also contributed to the financing, as well as Stewart Butterfield, the founder and CEO of popular business messaging platform Slack.
The money will be used, the firm said, to fund further growth and development of its product, through the expansion of its workforce in Dublin by at least another 100 over the next 12 months.
It currently employs 140 in the city, where it occupies part of the old Anglo Irish Bank building on St Stephen's Green.
It is understood the new jobs will be in a range of areas, including engineering, design and development.
The latest fundraising of $50m is among the biggest by any Irish company in recent years.
Intercom will not reveal the value the new investment puts on it, but it is understood that it could be as much as $700m. This propels the company closer to the coveted status of a "unicorn", or business with a $1 billion valuation.
The firm also refuses to reveal its current revenues, but said its income has grown four-fold in the past year, and now stands in the tens of millions.
It previously raised almost $66m in funding over four rounds - $1m in January 2012, $6m in June 2013, $23m in January 2014 and $35m in August 2015.
More Dublin jobs from Bizimply and CXC Corporate Services
Meanwhile, Dublin based staff rostering platform, Bizimply, has raised €2m in new investment.
The company, which helps businesses to manage employee rostering and costs online, said it will use the new funds to expand its sales and marketing capability and plans to create 15 jobs.
And workforce solutions company CXC Corporate Services is to create 30 positions at a new service centre in Dublin.
The new centre will be the hub for the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.
The new positions will be in operations, multi-lingual sales, marketing and support.
CXC's investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.
