Eka Hire Mr. Wah Chu for Key Customer Facing Executive Role
More or less hot on the heels of news that Peter Armstrong had joined the board of EKA and the appointment of Greg Taylor as President and Chief Operating Officer of the company, we understand that Mr. Taylor has created the new role of Vice President, Global Services and Support to buttress Eka’s rapid growth and has hired Mr. Wah Chu. For the past four years, Mr. Chu was Chief Customer Officer and Senior Vice President at Triple Point Technology and marks the move of yet another ex-Triple Point executive over to Eka.
ComTech Advisory understands that this is a newly created executive position at Eka reflects a response to the growth that it has experienced over the last year or so as well as a step in the natural evolution of the company as it solidifies itself as a global player. Mr. Chu is responsible for leading Eka’s customer-facing delivery and support operations around the globe.
Eka has added three new offices in the last year and now employs more than 400 staff. Indeed, Eka tells us that it has added around 25 new clients across all regions in the last 18-months alone, enjoying an average annual growth rate in revenues of 43% over the last 5-years. Just in the last few months, as well as attracting a stream of executive talent from Triple Point, the vendor has announced clients like Just Energy, Hoogwegt Dairy and Bracofeed and is set to unveil another win shortly with a major grain marketing company. ComTech Advisory research shows Eka to now be a significant challenger to the top 3-4 E/CTRM vendors.
Eka was established only in 2004 and its’ early growth was primarily in the Asia-Pacific region and it continued it has continued to grow successfully acquiring in the process a number of blue chip customers including Cargill, Louis Dreyfus, Noble, Tata and Graincorp. In 2013, the company started a more aggressive approach and to develop a comprehensive solution for the Commodity Management (CM) markets. Eka also acquired EnCompass Technologies of Calgary in early 2013 to bolster their energy commodity capabilities; and later in the year acquired MatrixGroup, an Australian-based provider of mining and bulk commodity handling software.
To fund additional acquisitions and support the rapid development of new functional capabilities, the company accepted a strategic investment from Silver Lake Kraftwerk in October 2013. Terms of the investment were not disclosed however, it is believed that the total investment was between $30-$40 million, providing the company with a substantial war chest. The recruitment of considerable executive expertise and the general strengthening of its business processes can also be seen as an extension of this strategy and investment. Mr. Chu’s appointment can be seen as ensuring that the company is properly focused on its growing customer base and building an infrastructure capable of supporting further customer growth.
Keep in touch and sign up to our Newsletter
