GeckoLabs, an Edinburgh-based software company, has secured £1.8 million investment from Mercia Fund Managers, the Scottish Investment Bank’s Co-Investment Fund and existing angel investors.

This latest funding round, which brings the total raised by the firm to £3 million, will enable GeckoLabs to expand its operations in North America and more than double the size of its team.

GeckoLabs was established in 2012 by Matt Lanham, who had previously run a digital agency. The company now boasts a 27-strong team in Edinburgh, but the fresh investment will allow the firm to open a new office in New York.

An additional 10 jobs will be created in the UK, while 28 new roles will be created in the US and Canada, the company confirmed. The software company’s GeckoEngage platform helps universities to engage and recruit students – helping academic institutions to capture, manage and follow-up with prospective students.

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The platform is used by more than half of the UK higher education market, including the Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge, Durham and St Andrew’s. GeckoLabs also has nearly 30 clients spread across the US and Canada.

GeckoLabs CEO Matt Lanham said: “With the launch of our chatbot earlier this year, we’ve seen a real upsurge in interest from both existing users and from higher education institutions we don’t yet work with. This investment will help us to capitalise on that interest and innovate further in terms of product development.”

Institutions can communicate with students in a one-to-one capacity, or at scale, using GeckoLabs’ AI-powered messaging platform, Chat.

The platform enables users to consolidate their messaging channels into a single, team-managed inbox. Using customisable bots, they can then answer students’ questions, register event attendees or capture leads in an efficient manner.

Marcus Henderson, investment manager at Mercia, said: “Gecko has a proven product with a loyal customer base and is now entering a critical phase in which it has the opportunity to scale the business in the North American market. This investment will support it through its next phase of growth and development.

“We will be working closely with the entire Gecko team to help them achieve this successfully.”

Kerry Sharp, director of the Scottish Investment Bank, added: “We’re delighted to invest alongside our Scottish Co-Investment partner Mercia Fund Manager in this exciting business as we jointly work with it to realise its growth potential. For Scottish Enterprise, the company offers not only the prospect of new Scottish-based job opportunities but also increases the export capabilities of Scotland’s business base.”