A UK tech startup is making downtown Atlanta its U.S. headquarters
Ekko, a London-based financial technology startup, has chosen Atlanta as its U.S. headquarters and will be based out of the burgeoning South Downtown development.
The company embeds in e-commerce payments and point-of-sale systems to let consumers know about the environmental impact of their purchase and then give them the option to contribute to a local project to compensate for that impact.
“The idea in that moment is we’re giving you information and the ability to do something about it,” Oli Cook, Ekko’s co-founder and CEO, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Ekko — which stylizes its name ekko in lowercase — was founded in 2019 by Manish Vara, Simon Toller and Cook. It has offices in London, Paris and Cape Town, South Africa.
Cook and his team decided to expand into the U.S. now because of the scale of opportunity.
“We know the customer demand is there. The behaviors of rounding up at till or tipping at till is really common,” Cook said of consumer habits at checkout.
“We know people are actually investing in this anyway as a space. The payment companies are here, it’s a natural step for us having already launched in Europe and in (Asia-Pacific), like it’s naturally where we’re going,” he added.
Georgia is a global payments processing hub, often called “Transaction Alley.” Financial technology companies employ more than 40,000 people in the state, according to the American Transaction Processors Coalition, an industry trade group.
Georgia’s payments reputation was one of the reasons Ekko decided to make Atlanta its American base, but it wasn’t the whole reason, Cook explained.
“The genuinely real reason is the people here are here to help you, to open doors, to give you the opportunity,” he said.
That hospitality was on full display Thursday evening at an event at the British Consul General’s residence in Atlanta, where dozens of Atlanta tech leaders welcomed Ekko to the city. As part of the U.S. expansion, Grant Wainscott, a former economic development official at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, is the company’s North American general manager.
Ekko will be hiring 10 to 15 positions in Atlanta over the next year and a half, and will look to bring in interns from Georgia Tech.
The company will be based out of the startup hub Atlanta Tech Village’s location in South Downtown, part of the real estate portfolio owned by serial entrepreneurs David Cummings and Jon Birdsong.
The pair bought 53 buildings and several acres of downtown parking lots across 10 blocks in late 2023 and have been working on transforming the area into a hub for entrepreneurs.
“Ekko is the second international company to plant its U.S. headquarters at Atlanta Tech Village Sylvan, and that’s no accident. ATV Sylvan was designed to be a gateway for global innovation — accessible, affordable, and connected to the world’s busiest airport,” Mike Johnson, vice president of brand & growth at the Atlanta Tech Village, said in a statement to the AJC.
“Ekko choosing Atlanta over coastal tech hubs is proof that the future of innovation isn’t just bicoastal — it’s right here in Atlanta,” Johnson wrote.
Ekko’s business model is similar to many other payment processors by taking a small service fee from the contribution. It doesn’t charge merchants a subscription fee because “the idea is we only make money when consumers actually love the product,” Cook said.
The company counts Worldpay, which was recently acquired by Georgia-based Global Payments, as one of its clients and will be rolling out with its merchants over the next 12 to 18 months, according to Cook.
Ekko’s goal is to direct $1 billion to high-impact projects across the world by 2031. The company partners with groups like Conservation International and wildlife nonprofit Tusk and will soon be adding a Georgia-based organization.
About the Author
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
