Collaboration software maker Jive Software has received $15 million in first round of funding from Sequoia Capital.

The Portland, Oregon-based company intends to use the extra funds to promote its Clearspace collaboration software, to expand internationally, and bolster sales and marketing efforts, CEO Dave Hersh said on Monday.

Clearspace, launched in February, is a community system that lets people collaborate with each other through Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, forums, chat, and tagging--all on a single platform.

The product has two versions, one for workers within an organization, and a second for external collaboration with customers, partners, and suppliers.

Mr. Hersh said the funding points to the emergence of collaboration software. Research firm Gartner has estimated the market for collaboration software to reach $9 billion in 2009.

Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and chats are typically offered by different providers. Jive is one of the few companies that offer all this in one package.

Jive Software’s major competition is Microsoft’s SharePoint software, while startups such as SuiteTwo and Blogtronix are also trying to gain traction. Jive competes with the free online services available from providers such as Google.

“[Customers] are stuck between too much structure with SharePoint and content management solutions and too less structure with [point solutions],” Mr. Hersh said.

Analyst for the 451 Group, Raven Zachary, thinks Jive is positioning itself well in the market and growing rapidly.

“There is a demand in the enterprise for communications and collaboration tools inside the firewall—not every company wants to use free online services for business,” Mr. Zachary said.

Jive has been profitable since day one and has more than 2,000 customers, Mr. Hersh said. The company is targeting small and medium businesses in the $10 million to $500 million revenue range.