US-based software company Shippo is to create 120 jobs in Ireland as it opens a a new European research and development centre in Dublin.
The San-Francisco based company, which offers a shipping platform for growing e-commerce businesses, is hiring for its Dublin-based engineering, product, and design teams.
Founded in 2013, Shippo allows e-commerce businesses and marketplaces to connect to multiple shipping carriers around the world from a single API and dashboard. More than 120,000 businesses use its services. Among its partners is Shopify, where it provides an end-to-end shipping solution to its merchants directly within the Shopify platform.
The move to open an Irish office is part of an acceleration of Shippo's plans to expand internationally, with the company growing its workforce and its shipping infrastructure into the global market. The first phase of its international growth saw Shippo introduce seven new carriers across five countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
"We serve a growing, international community of merchants who are looking for a global end-to-end shipping solution," said Simon Kreuz, president and co-founder at Shippo. "With our European team working with our US engineering teams in building a world-class shipping service, as well as spearheading new initiatives for the European market, including platform API optimisations, carrier integrations, and building a brand new mobile app, this new location will enable us to deliver more tailored programmes to our customers and partners across Europe. "
Tech veteran Ashutosh Saxena has been hired as site lead and head of engineering for Shippo in Europe, and will oversee the day to day operations in Dublin.
“Shippo’s vision is to provide Amazon-like shipping to all e-commerce merchants, and it is a wonderful career opportunity to join the company at this stage,” Mr Ashutosh said. “As a home to some of the best engineering talent in the world, Ireland felt like a natural next step for Shippo as we continue our international expansion, and I’m excited to help lead this effort locally.”
The news of the new jobs was welcomed by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. "The pandemic emphasised the importance of e-commerce businesses for our economy and Shippo's work in facilitating these companies is vital," he said "This new R&D centre will greatly benefit from our rich pool of talent."
IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan described the company as "a welcome addition to the SaaS technology space in Ireland".
Valued at $1 billion, Shippo has already raised more than $150 million in funding to support its ambitions and counts Stripe cofounder Patrick Collison among its investors.
“The internet economy is still in its early days,” said Mr Collison. “Shippo’s work orchestrating the world’s intricate shipping infrastructure will help millions of businesses around the world to expand their operations and reach new customers. That Shippo has chosen my home country-and location of Stripe’s second headquarters-as the basecamp for its European presence makes the company’s continued expansion all the more exciting.”
