Bangkok-based workplace app firm Eko has secured a $20 million Series B funding round, as it expands into the European market with a London office.
The round was led by Indonesian VC SMDV, with participation from RedBeat, the investment arm of AirAsia; Gobi Partners; East Ventures and smaller firms. Its previous funding round came in 2017, led by Japanese trader Itucho.
Eko’s latest funding round will fuel a rapid expansion project for the company, which recently opened offices in Amsterdam, Berlin and London, where the company has pitched up on the city’s central Chancery Lane. Eko is particularly targeting Europe as its “all-in-one” messaging platform helps with security, and removes the propensity for informal communication channels to fall foul of the EU’s GDPR rules.
“The EU’s economy is roughly seven times larger than that of southeast Asia’s, while the US is roughly the same size as Europe,” Eko founder and CEO Korawad Chearavanont told Tech in Asia. “The difference in the size of the enterprise IT market is even wider, as the EU and the US spend heavily on software. Thus, if Eko is to achieve the necessary scale to become a serious global player in the mobile enterprise market, continued growth in these markets is critical.”
Eko, founded in 2012, faces heavy competition from the likes of Slack and Alibaba-backed Dingtalk in the workspace communication sector. But with almost $30m in cash behind it, and a sharp focus on Europe, the firm will hope to carve out a rapid market niche in 2019.