Ekster

Who owns Ekster?

Ekster is owned by its co-founders Olivier Momma, Rick Scharnigg, and Richard Canneman. It is an independent private company with no parent company and no disclosed institutional investors.

Is Ekster a public company?

No. Ekster is privately held. It has financed growth through crowdfunding campaigns and operating revenue rather than public markets or venture capital rounds.

When was Ekster founded?

Ekster was founded in 2015 in the Netherlands. Its first product launched on Kickstarter that year and funded within hours.

Who founded Ekster?

Olivier Momma and Rick Scharnigg conceived the product while studying in the US on Fulbright scholarships, and Richard Canneman joined as the third co-founder. Momma runs brand and marketing, Scharnigg runs product, and Canneman runs technology.

Where is Ekster headquartered?

Ekster is headquartered at Singel 542 in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands. Its team of more than 45 people works distributed across about 11 countries.

Is Ekster a B Corp?

Yes. Ekster is a Certified B Corporation, verified by B Lab across environmental, social, and governance standards.

Ekster started as a complaint. In 2015, Olivier Momma and Rick Scharnigg, two 22-year-old Dutch students in the United States on Fulbright scholarships, agreed that the standard bifold wallet was overdue for replacement. They partnered with Richard Canneman, who had prior business experience, to design a slim wallet with quick card access.

The founders took the project to Kickstarter rather than investors. The campaign funded within hours and overshot its goal repeatedly, validating both the product idea and the funding model the company would reuse for years. The first wallet shipped in 2015, and Ekster formalized in Amsterdam.

The second product decision proved more consequential than the first. Rather than embedding tracking electronics permanently into wallets, Ekster sold a separate credit-card-sized solar tracker that slipped into any wallet. That accessory approach meant the tracker worked across product lines and could be replaced without replacing the wallet, giving the company a durable accessory revenue stream.

The Parliament wallet emerged as the flagship through the late 2010s, joined by the Senate cardholder, aluminum variants, and multiple leather finishes. Crowdfunding remained the launch mechanism: successive Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns financed new categories including key organizers, laptop bags, and later phone cases and MagSafe accessories.

The tracker line modernized twice: first to solar charging, then to versions certified for Apple's Find My network and Google's Android network, keeping Ekster compatible with the tracking ecosystems phone makers built rather than competing against them. Ekster earned B Corp certification and passed one million customers, cementing its claim as the top-selling smart wallet brand.

Ekster is a Certified B Corporation, meaning B Lab has verified its performance across environmental practices, worker standards, community impact, and governance. Certification applies to the whole company rather than select products.

Material commitments visible in the product line include Leather Working Group-audited leather sourcing for specified goods and a durability-first product philosophy: a wallet engineered to last years displaces repeated cheap replacements. The solar-powered tracker card removes disposable battery waste from the tracking ecosystem.

As a crowdfunded independent, Ekster publishes sustainability claims primarily through its own channels rather than standalone audited reports, so B Lab verification is the load-bearing third-party credential.

Ekster's recognition profile is product-review led:

• Repeated "best smart wallet" rankings in Forbes, Business Insider, WIRED, and CNET buyer guides
• B Corp certification verified by B Lab
• Crowdfunding track record: More than a dozen successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns since 2015
• One million customers milestone with more than 50,000 five-star reviews

Ekster has no significant controversies, regulatory actions, or recalls on public record. Consumer-level complaints documented in reviews concern leather patina over time, tracker battery longevity, and customer service queues during peak sale periods. None has escalated to enforcement action or litigation.

The company operates in a lightly regulated product category. Its principal regulatory exposures are standard for the trade: electronics certification for tracker devices, materials compliance for leather goods, and consumer protection rules across the markets where it sells.