Eric Boyko (born 1970)Josh O’Kane, “How Stingray’s thrill-seeking CEO took his passion public,” The Globe and Mail, June 5, 2015. is a Canadian tech entrepreneur and the founder, president and CEO of Stingray Group.
Early life and education Boyko was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, to a Quebecois mother and Ukrainian father.Steve Ladurantaye, “Eric Boyko: Stingray’s entrepreneur a go-go-go,” The Globe and Mail, November 2, 2012. He earned a bachelor of commerce degree from McGill University in 1992,Paul Delean, “Stingray Digital in a growth groove,” Montreal Gazette, July 24, 2014. and became a certified general accountant in 1997.Eric Boyko , bdc.ca. Accessed November 15, 2015.
Career
Campus Gourmet and eFundraising.com Boyko started his first business, Campus Gourmet, in 1991 at the age of 19. The company sold precooked meals to students at McGill University.Keith Randall, “Who Said the Path to Success is Easy?” McGill Management Newsletter, Fall/Winter 2003-04, p. 17. He then founded the online fundraising company Universal Fundraising Group with a $2,000 loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada. It was rebranded as eFundraising.com in 1998, and sold to ZapMe in 2000 for $25 million.“Montreal company hits it big with e-fundraising,” CBC News, April 3, 2000.
Stingray Group Inc. In 2007, Boyko and Alexandre Taillefer founded digital music provider Stingray Digital Media Group, with Boyko serving as president and CEO since the company's inception.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. The company sells commercial-free music streams to cable and satellite television providers to add to their subscribers' packages, as well as a music streaming app and an online service for consumers and businesses.“Stingray Digital said to seek about $120M in IPO,” Montreal Gazette, April 24, 2015. Unlike many of its streaming music competitors, Stingray uses human curators rather than algorithms to generate playlists. It was launched with the $6 million purchase of karaoke company Soundchoice, which was then renamed The Karaoke Channel. A year later, Stingray purchased music-streaming TV channel Galaxie from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for $65 million, and renamed it Stingray Music.
The company went public on June 3, 2015, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.Damon van der Linde, “Stingray Digital Group Inc plans global expansion after $140M IPO,” Financial Post, June 3, 2015.
In December 2018, the company officially changed its name to Stingray Group, Inc.
References
External links Stingray Digital website