Belfast software company Aepona has secured venture capital funding of $10 million (€7.7 million) from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Polaris Ventures and Trinity Venture Capital.

Aepona's chief executive Isaac Olasoko said the funding would be used to complete development of its core products, invest in a new product line, hire staff to support contracts it has won in Asia and North America, and develop new markets, also in Asia and North America.

"We had the opportunity seven months ago to simply manage the company for profitability and not take on any extra investment," said Mr Olasoko. "But the board decided that the extra value from the new products and markets was considerable and they decided to delay profitability."

The company currently employs 127 but plans to grow to 200 staff over the next two years.

It recently opened a development centre in the Ukraine as it is not able to recruit all the engineers it needs in Northern Ireland. The Ukrainian centre currently employs eight and is expected to grow to 25 staff.

Aepona also opened a sales office in India last year and Mr Olasoko said the company would announce its first customer there this quarter with three other "major opportunities" being pursued.

Aepona was founded as Northern Ireland subsidiary of telecommunications software company Aldiscon in 1995. It provides software that enables telecoms operators to roll out data services to their subscribers based on Parlay, an industry standard. Customers include France Telecom/Orange, KPN, Sprint in the US, E-Plus, Russia's Vimpelcom, Eircom and the Bridge Mobile Alliance in Asia.

Following previous rounds in 2003 and 2005, Aepona has raised a total of $45 million in investment.

Mr Olasoko said this would be the final round of funding for the company, which expects to be profitable by mid-2008.