Intercom was founded in California in 2011 by four Irish designers and engineers, Eoghan McCabe, Des Traynor, Ciaran Lee, and David Barrett.

[6] Shortly after, the company received seed funding from David Sacks, Huddle founder Andy McLoughlin, and others like Dan Martell, 500 Global (previously 500 Startups), and Digital Garage.

[11][12] In 2017 Intercom offered to pay the legal fees for those affected by US president Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims who wanted to relocate to Ireland.

[14] In June 2020, Intercom's founder and then chief executive officer Eoghan McCabe announced at an internal company "all hands" meeting that he would be moving to the role of chairman and standing down as CEO.

[16] A year before, McCabe had admitted to 'poor judgment' with female staff but was supported by Peacock, then the chief operating officer, who called him "an exceptional leader who is visionary and strategic, as well as kind, genuine and transparent".