Eric Boyko
Eric Boyko | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 (age 53–54) |
| Alma mater | McGill University |
| Occupation(s) | Founder, president & CEO, Stingray Group Inc. (2007-present) |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Website | stingray |
Eric Boyko(born 1970)[1]is a Canadian tech entrepreneur and the founder, president andCEOofStingray Group.
Early life and education
[edit]Boyko was born and raised inMontreal,Quebec,to a Quebecois mother and Ukrainian father.[2]He earned a bachelor of commerce degree fromMcGill Universityin 1992,[3]and became a certified general accountant in 1997.[4]
Career
[edit]Campus Gourmet and eFundraising
[edit]Boyko started his first business, Campus Gourmet, in 1991 at the age of 19. The company sold precooked meals to students at McGill University.[2][5]He then founded the online fundraising company Universal Fundraising Group with a $2,000 loan from theBusiness Development Bank of Canada.[2]It was rebranded as eFundraising in 1998,[5]and sold to ZapMe in 2000 for $25 million.[6]
Stingray Group Inc.
[edit]In 2007, Boyko and Alexandre Taillefer founded digital music providerStingray Digital Media Group,[3]with Boyko serving as president and CEO since the company's inception.[7][8]The company sells commercial-free music streams to cable and satellite television providers to add to their subscribers' packages,[2]as well as a music streaming app and an online service for consumers and businesses.[9]Unlike many of its streaming music competitors, Stingray uses human curators rather than algorithms to generate playlists.[10]It was launched with the $6 million purchase of karaoke company Soundchoice, which was then renamed The Karaoke Channel.[2][3]A year later, Stingray purchased music-streaming TV channel Galaxie from theCanadian Broadcasting Corporationfor $65 million, and renamed itStingray Music.[3]
The company went public on June 3, 2015, on theToronto Stock Exchange.[1][11]
In December 2018, the company officially changed its name to Stingray Group, Inc.
References
[edit]- ^abJosh O’Kane,“How Stingray’s thrill-seeking CEO took his passion public,”The Globe and Mail,June 5, 2015.
- ^abcdeSteve Ladurantaye,“Eric Boyko: Stingray’s entrepreneur a go-go-go,”The Globe and Mail,November 2, 2012.
- ^abcdPaul Delean,“Stingray Digital in a growth groove,”Archived2017-08-03 at theWayback MachineMontreal Gazette,July 24, 2014.
- ^Eric BoykoArchived2015-07-28 at theWayback Machine,bdc.ca. Accessed November 15, 2015.
- ^abKeith Randall,“Who Said the Path to Success is Easy?”Archived2015-11-17 at theWayback MachineMcGill Management Newsletter,Fall/Winter 2003-04, p. 17.
- ^“Montreal company hits it big with e-fundraising,”CBC News,April 3, 2000.
- ^Robert Briel,"Q&A with Stingray’s Eric Boyko,"Broadband TV News, March 10, 2015.
- ^Eric Boyko CGA: Executive Profile,Bloomberg Businessweek.Accessed November 15, 2015.
- ^“Stingray Digital said to seek about $120M in IPO,”Montreal Gazette,April 24, 2015.
- ^"Why Stingray Digital is betting it all against streaming music".Canadian Business.February 25, 2016. Archived fromthe originalon June 8, 2017.RetrievedMay 23,2017.
- ^Damon van der Linde,“Stingray Digital Group Inc plans global expansion after $140M IPO,”Financial Post,June 3, 2015.