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. Ekko was founded in 2019 by Manish Vara, Simon Toller and Oli Cook, and has offices in London, Paris and Cape Town, South Africa.
Georgia's reputation as a global payments processing hub — often called "Transaction Alley" — was one of the draws. Financial technology companies employ more than 40,000 people in the state, according to the American Transaction Processors Coalition. 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.
Ekko will be based out of Atlanta Tech Village's South Downtown location, part of the real estate portfolio owned by David Cummings and Jon Birdsong, who bought 53 buildings and several acres of downtown parking lots across 10 blocks in late 2023. The company counts Worldpay — recently acquired by Georgia-based Global Payments — as one of its clients, and its goal is to direct $1 billion to high-impact projects across the world by 2031.
"Ekko choosing Atlanta over coastal tech hubs is proof that the future of innovation isn't just bicoastal — it's right here in Atlanta," said Mike Johnson, vice president of brand & growth at Atlanta Tech Village.
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution