Cloudsmith IT firm raises $15m and plans 60 jobs

Belfast IT firm Cloudsmith has raised $15m (£10.98m) from mainly US investors which it will use to add 60 employees to its workforce.

The investment is led by the high-profile New York fund Tiger Global.

Tiger is a prolific technology investor with assets under management of about $80bn (£58.58bn).

Cloudsmith was founded by Alan Carson and Lee Skillen who worked for the NY Stock Exchange technology operation in Belfast.

The firm's technology lets companies easily update and send software around their business using the cloud.

This eliminates the need for companies to handle the process themselves using physical data centres.

The company which was founded in 2016 currently employs about 20 people.

It will use the investment to expand its US sales and engineering teams.

US-based customers now make up 60% of the company's revenues.

Other investors in the funding round include Sarah Friar, the Tyrone-born chief executive of the Nextdoor social network.

While $15m is a small amount by the standards of the investors involved, it is understood to be the biggest technology funding round in Northern Ireland since 2005.