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Dropbox to create 40 jobs in Irish HQ 'thanks to Bono'

Peter Flanagan New Technology Correspondent

A US technology company has credited Bono with persuading it to invest in Ireland, creating more than 40 jobs in the process.

Online storage business Dropbox will become the latest firm to set up its international headquarters here when it opens a Dublin office early next year.

It will be the company's first office outside of San Francisco.

The IDA-backed investment will create just over 40 jobs initially, but this is expected to increase as the company gets up and running here.

The company said it will seek employees for customer and technical support – many of the positions requiring German, French, Spanish, Italian, Korean or Japanese.

Bono and the Edge were early investors in Dropbox, apparently backing it as individuals rather than through an investment firm, and the company was quick to highlight the importance of that connection in coming here.

"Bono has been a great investor for us, and he and the Edge were very persuasive in their arguments for setting up in Ireland," said Dropbox's Sujay Jaswa.

Bono himself described the company as "one of the great tech stories of recent times".

"This smart and innovative company will find a smart and innovative workforce here in Ireland, with a creativity and commitment second to none. The Irish Government worked hard on this, and the IDA played a blinder," he added.

Company founder Drew Houston said the move gave his firm access to a wide and deep level of talent already here.

"By opening our international headquarters in Dublin and tapping into the large talent pool that exists there, we're better positioned to serve even more people locally while we continue to grow," he said.

Since it was set up in 2007, the company has grown to more than 100 million users, about a third of which are based in Europe.

The company has not yet identified where in Dublin it will be based, and will be working out of serviced offices to start with.

It is likely, however, that it will find a permanent location close to the 'Silicon Docks' tech hub, where the likes of Facebook, Google and a host of other technology companies have based themselves.

Meanwhile, healthcare provider Centric Health will create 200 jobs in Ireland as part of an expansion of its diagnostic services.

Fifty of these jobs are expected to come on line within the first year and include medical, paramedical and administrative staff.

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