Irish software firm eDesk is riding high on the back of the pandemic’s boom in online shopping, adding 150 jobs and considering stock market listings.
There is every possibility that this will be a $100 million business in the next four, five years,” said newly appointed chief executive Dermot O’Connor. “And at that time, yes, [an initial public offering] is an option.
“There is a real opportunity here to be successful and join some of the Irish Unicorns of the past year or two and get their name on that roster over the next few years.”
Founded in 2012 as xSellco, the firm last year rebranded eDesk, the name of its flagship e-commerce product that allows online shoppers to interact with retailers, whether they’re on Amazon, eBay, Instagram. Or buy directly on the retailer’s website.
Mr O’Connor pointed to Irish tech giant Stripe’s recent growth, which saw online payments increase by 60pc in 2021, with 1,400 new companies joining Stripe every day last year.
According to Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison, online spending accounted for just 12 percent of total global spending in 2021, leaving plenty of room for growth.
“E-commerce is going to grow and grow, and more and more sales are going to be online,” Mr. O’Connor said.
Headquartered in Dublin, eDesk has contracted with 2,000 new customers since the beginning of 2020 — including clothing brand Superdry and consumer electronics maker Sennheiser — and expects to double that business over the next two years.
Its expansion plans are funded by that development, though Mr. O’Connor is not ruling out going to the market for funding.
“Organically, we have a great opportunity to ride that wave over the next few years, but it cannot be denied that if we get some capital to accelerate some of these initiatives We can do it faster.”
Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister Leo Varadkar called the company’s growth “incredible” and compared its success to Irish tech firms Flipdish, Intercom, and Wayflyer “to continue in global markets and grow from here in Ireland”.
The number of new employees will increase from 97 in the firm’s workforce to around 250 over the next 18 months.
It is hiring software engineers and salespeople in Ireland and in the US for its planned new hub, where about 40pc of eDesk’s customers are based.
New employees in Ireland will have the option of working remotely or at company bases in Dublin, Derry and Scheiberne.
