The firm raised most of the funding from Intel, and the remainder from Enterprise Ireland as well as a private investor.

Founded in 2003, Adaptive Mobile provides mobile operators with systems that allow them to regulate the type of content accessible by subscribers, while also working with security providers to integrate virus protection into mobile networks.

Chief executive Lorcan Burke said last week that the company has already reached break-even point, having signed contracts worth about $5m last year. He said he hopes to double that figure this year.

Burke declined to say how big a stake either Intel or Enterprise Ireland took in the firm, but said founding directors retained a majority interest. Adaptive Mobile is now likely to be valued at over 10m.

Most of the company's clients are large mobile operators in the Middle East, South Africa and the United States. Burke said the company is involved in discussions with several US mobile operators and hopes to sign new deals soon. He said there has been "a lot" of interest in the firm's technology.

According to Burke, there had was a previous investment offer 2.5m, but he said it was not accepted as it would dilute ownership too much.

It's not surprising that much of Adaptive Mobile's business is generated in the Middle East, where there is strict control of pornography due to cultural and religious sensitivities. However, the company is also targeting parental control, whereby parents can determine which type of content their children can access on their mobile phones.

One application routes MMS picture messages that are destined for a minor to a parent first, who can then decide whether or not to allow the child access to the image.

According to technology research group IDC, security software designed for mobile and wireless environments are forecast to generate $1.27bn in revenues by 2007, up from $86.4m in 2002.

Damien Callaghan, investment manager of Intel Capital, said products that can provide enhanced security are meeting an untapped need in the market.

Both Burke and another Adaptive Mobile founder, Gareth Maclachlan, worked in venture capital in London, while another director, John Kennedy, has worked with software security firm Symantec.

In 2004, the first-ever mobile phone virus was detected. Called Cabir, the virus affected phones and wireless devices using a Symbian operating system. It spread using Bluetooth data transmission technology, which is commonly found on many mobile phones, but it wasn't destructive. It displayed the word 'Caribe' on the screens of infected devices.