Eric Boyko (born 1970)Josh O’Kane
“How Stingray’s thrill-seeking CEO took his passion public,”
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', June 5, 2015. is a Canadian tech entrepreneur and the founder, president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Stingray Group Stingray Group Inc. (formerly Stingray Digital and Stingray Digital Group) is a Canadian music, media and technology company based in Montreal, Quebec, with offices in Toronto, Ontario, as well as in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, ...

Early life and education

Boyko was born and raised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, 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 McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1992,Paul Delean
“Stingray Digital in a growth groove,”
''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', 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 The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and national development bank wholly owned by the Government of Canada, mandated to help create and develop Canadian businesses through financing ...

. It was rebranded as eFundraising.com in 1998, and sold to ZapMe in 2000 for $25 million.

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. 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. 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 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

for $65 million, and renamed it

Stingray Music Stingray Music is a Canada-based international multi-platform audio service that broadcasts continuous streaming music and other forms of audio on multiple channel feeds. The service is owned by Stingray Digital. It was originally founded in 1 ...

. The company went public on June 3, 2015, on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...

.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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyko, Eric Living people 1970 births Businesspeople from Montreal McGill University Faculty of Management alumni Canadian technology chief executives Canadian technology company founders