Intercom, Inc.

For voice communications systems, see Intercom.

Intercom, Inc.
Company typePrivate company
IndustryEnterprise software
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
Founders
  • Eoghan McCabe
  • Des Traynor
  • Ciaran Lee
  • David Barrett
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people
  • Eoghan McCabe (Chairperson & CEO)
  • Paul Adams (CPO)
  • Darragh Curran (CTO)
  • Dan Griggs (CFO)
RevenueIncrease US$200 million (2021)[1]
Number of employees
1,013 (2022)[2]
Websiteintercom.com

Intercom, Inc. is a software company that specializes in business messaging, providing businesses with a way to chat with their customers.[3] Intercom has its headquarters in San Francisco with offices in Chicago, Dublin, Sydney and London.

History

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Intercom was founded in California in 2011 by four Irish designers and engineers, Eoghan McCabe, Des Traynor, Ciaran Lee, and David Barrett.[4] They previously ran Irish software design consultancy Contrast, which made a bug tracking tool called Exceptional. After selling Exceptional to Rackspace in 2011, they used the proceeds to start Intercom.[5]

In 2012 Twitter co-founder Biz Stone invested an undisclosed sum in Intercom.[6] Shortly after, the company received seed funding from David Sacks, Huddle founder Andy McLoughlin, and others like Dan Martell, 500 Global (previously 500 Startups), and Digital Garage.[7][8] In March 2013 it announced a $6 million Series A round led by Social Capital.[9] In January 2014 it received a $23 million Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.[10] Intercom also received a $50 million Series C-1 funding led by Index Ventures.[11][12]

In 2017 Intercom offered to pay the legal fees for those affected by US president Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims who wanted to relocate to Ireland.[13]

In 2018, Intercom announced a $125 million Series D round led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Google Ventures.[14]

In June 2020, Intercom's founder and then chief executive officer Eoghan McCabe announced at an internal company "all hands" meeting that he would be moving to the role of chairman and standing down as CEO.[15][self-published source] Karen Peacock was announced as Intercom's new chief executive, effective July 1, 2020.[16] A year before, McCabe had admitted to 'poor judgment' with female staff but was supported by Peacock, then the chief operating officer, who called him "an exceptional leader who is visionary and strategic, as well as kind, genuine and transparent".[17] McCabe was accused of slapping the buttocks of a female employee and propositioning another one after a night of drinks, however, both internal & external investigations cleared McCabe of wrongdoing.[18][19] In July 2021, Intercom's co-founder and then chief technology officer (CTO) Ciarán Lee left the company.[20] McCabe was reappointed by the company's board as the CEO in October 2022.[19][21] In July 2023, Intercom withdrew its public support for Pride celebrations, including removing flags from offices in Dublin. Subsequently, McCabe came under pressure from staff for retweeting contentious tweets on Twitter. At a company-wide meeting, he promised to be more thoughtful in his use of the platform. [22]

In 2023, Intercom ended support for the Twitter API support citing price changes.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Lyons, Tom (November 23, 2021). "Intercom has hit $200m in annual recurring revenue. But where is the tech firm going next?". The Currency. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "Intercom | Company Overview & News". Forbes. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  3. ^ Lyons, Tom (August 11, 2020). "Eoghan McCabe helped build a billion-dollar business. How did the 36-year-old do it, and what will he do next?". The Currency. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  4. ^ O'Brien, Ciara. "Serial founders expanding his tech success from base in the Valley". The Irish Times. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Newenham, Pamela. "Four Irishmen on a mission to build a billion-dollar company". The Irish Times. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  6. ^ Bort, Julie. "How drinking Guinness with Biz Stone launched one of the fastest-growing startups in the Valley today". Business Insider. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  7. ^ O'Dell, Jolie (January 25, 2012). "Startup Intercom nabs $1M from Biz Stone and other prominent angels". Reuters. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  8. ^ "Biz Stone, 500 Startups And Others Put $1M In CRM For Web Businesses Intercom". TechCrunch. January 25, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Ha, Anthony (June 19, 2013). "Customer Communication Startup Intercom Raises $6M Round Led By The Social+Capital Partnership". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  10. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (January 22, 2014). "Intercom Raises Another $23M For Its New, More Social Approach To CRM". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  11. ^ Goldfisher, Alastair (April 7, 2016). "Index leads $50 mln funding round for Intercom". PE Hub. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  12. ^ Garland, Russ (April 7, 2016). "Index Ventures Backs Intercom in $50 Million Series D". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  13. ^ Geron, Tomio; Zakrzewski, Cat (February 1, 2017). "Startup Investors and Executives Denounce Border Curbs". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  14. ^ "Intercom raises $125 million to take on Salesforce – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. March 27, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  15. ^ McCabe, Eoghan (June 18, 2020). "Announcing Intercom's new CEO". Inside Intercom. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  16. ^ Miller, Ron (June 18, 2020). "Intercom announces the promotion of Karen Peacock to CEO". TechCrunch.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  17. ^ Weckler, Adrian (May 11, 2019). "Irish tech boss McCabe admitted 'poor judgment' with female staff as he built up €1bn company". Irish Independent. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  18. ^ Bernard, Zoë (May 9, 2019). "Harassment Allegations Against Intercom CEO Sparked Departures". The Information. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  19. ^ a b ""Eoghan McCabe Is Back As CEO At Business Messaging Startup Intercom"". Forbes. October 6, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  20. ^ ""There are so many pinch-me moments on an exponential hockey stick curve journey"". The Currency. July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  21. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (October 6, 2022). "Eoghan McCabe, the controversial Intercom co-founder who left the CEO role in 2020, is stepping back in". TechCrunch.
  22. ^ O'Brien, Ciara (July 7, 2023). "Intercom CEO promises to be 'more thoughtful' in Twitter engagement". The Irish Times. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  23. ^ Binder, Matt (April 14, 2023). "Intercom drops Twitter support citing Musk's new exorbitant API pricing". Mashable.
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