Boost as tech jobs created in Dublin and Cork

The country’s two biggest cities were boosted by major announcements yesterday as more than 100 jobs came on stream in Dublin and Cork’s first internet exchange opened for business.

Homegrown business software company Intercom will increase its workforce by 100 staff within a year after closing $50m (€44.07m) funding round to fuel its expansion.

The cash injection, which means the company is fully funded and will not need to raise further funds to reach profitability, will enable Intercom to add a range of highly-skilled workers to its staff in Dublin in engineering, design and product development.

Intercom employs 250 people worldwide, 140 of which are based in Dublin, and has 10,000 paying customers across the country.

Australian company CXC also announced it is to create 30 new positions at its new Europe Middle East and Asia hub in Dublin, while US data flash storage company Pure Storage is planning to double its 18-man Irish workforce by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Cork’s regional internet infrastructure was boosted as the Irish Neutral Exchange Association opened its first regional internet exchange point.

An internet exchange eliminates the need for internet service providers to connect individually with each other in favour of one common exchange point.

The launch of the association exchange will also mean that internet traffic in the Cork region will not have to be routed through Dublin which will result in faster connectivity and reduced latency for customers provided their internet provider is a member of the exchange.

“For something like email or web access, they won’t notice it but for anything online gaming or downloading files or films then it will be much quicker,” said association chief executive Barry Rhodes.

The exchange currently has 13 members including Eir, BT Ireland and Nova Networks as well as a range of smaller carriers.

Separately, 930sq m of extra co-working space became available in Cork as Regus opened its 12th location in Ireland and second in the southern city as the anchor tenant of Phoenix House on Monahan Rd.