Elastic Path CEO Harry Chemko hints at IPO

Harry Chemko, ‎co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based ecommerce company Elastic Path Software was on BNN’s “Business Day” today to talk about how the role the company fills in the digital commerce stack. He says the company, which derives its names from a physics terms that describes flexibility, is all about helping large companies meet the demands of digital natives, who will soon become a dominant force in retail.

“There’s been a real change in the way consumer behaviour has been over the last ten years,” says Chemko. “If you look at the market, millenials are going to make up 75% of that workforce in the next ten years. These are people that have grown up having instant access to devices, instant access to content, being able to get something right away. The shift that’s happening is the CMOs now are having to really experiment and iterate on what those customer experiences of the future are going to look like. We have built a platform that really helps them do those things. ”

Elastic Path, which was founded in 2000, supplies its ecommerce platform to clients such as Google, Time Inc., and Virgin Media. The company now has more than 150 employees, and is recognized on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for ecommerce. Chemko says the company is on the cutting edge of the blurring of lines between traditional shopping and ecommerce.

“There’s a lot of technologies out there that are starting to enable some pretty authentic and personalized experiences that bring the online world and the physical world together,” he says. “It’s no longer if you are buying something from an ecommerce website or you’re buying something by going into a store, it’s one general ecommerce experience now.”

When asked about whether or not Elastic Path is a takeout candidate, Chemko said the independence of its platform is a selling feature and that the company might opt to go in a different direction.

“We’re on a great growth curve with a very interesting huge market, and we’re looking to expand that as much as we can. I think there is certainly the potential of an IPO,” he said.

Elastic Path has raised money with Yaletown Venture Partners, Beedie Capital, BDC Venture Capital, and secured a debt facility with Wellington Financial.

Click here for the full interview.