Thai tech startup raises $20m and expands into London with Chancery Lane HQ

Business communications platform Eko has raised an eight-figure investment and expanded into London.

The Bangkok-based company secured $20m (c.£15.7m) in a Series B round led by Indonesian investor SMDV, with participation from the digital investment arm of AirAsia, RedBeat Ventures; fund manager Gobi Partners; venture capital firm East Ventures and existing shareholders.

Eko will use the funding to accelerate its expansion in North America and Europe, where it has opened offices in Berlin, Amsterdam and on London’s Chancery Lane.

Eko’s mobile-first platform is currently used by companies with a combined value of over £47bn. It was built to solve a growing communications problem for businesses that have mobile-first, distributed non-desk-based workforces.

Employees of these businesses, Eko said, are increasingly relying on informal chat groups and processes using existing consumer messaging apps, which could create security, confidentiality and GDPR issues.

The firm is working to solve this problem by offering a secure ‘all-in-one’ platform for staff to communicate and collaborate in real time.

Eko’s CEO and founder, Korawad Chearavanont, said: “To date, digital communication and productivity platforms have focused on appealing to a largely desk-based, highly tech-savvy workforce, who are confident using an array of digital tools.

“This has left a large portion of the UK’s workforce without a communication tool fit for purpose and teams have often had to rely on consumer messaging platforms to fill the gap, creating significant inefficiencies as well as a myriad of security issues.”

He continued: “Eko solves these problems whilst adding significant value to organisations looking to use mobile technology to supercharge their productivity.

“We have seen enormous demand from companies across sectors and this fundraiser will help us roll out Eko to more and more customers across Europe and the US.”

SMDV managing partner Roderick Purwana commented: “Eko’s communication and collaboration features fit the increasing mobility of corporate employees today.”

Eko launched its European operation earlier this year and has since seen its global sales pipeline grow more than tenfold.

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