From Eko to Amity, a college dropout’s hurry to escape his family’s shadow

Korawad Chearavanont’s family owns Thailand’s largest conglomerate, the multi-billion-dollar Charoen Pokphand Group. The 25-year-old, however, chose a different path. One that began in high school and that now pits him against Slack and Microsoft

Korawad Chearavanont, the fourth generation of Thailand’s richest family, is busy building his own tech business

His flagship startup, Eko, is a workplace communication tool along the lines of Slack. The business has broken even in June, thanks to Covid-19

But going against giants like Slack and Microsoft’s Teams will not be easy, as the workplace solutions space is crowded with similar solutions providers

Not just that, Chearavanont will have to prove that his startup is able to break its affiliation from CP Group

In 2015, a 21-year-old dropped out of the prestigious Columbia University to focus on his startup. It’s a common enough plot, but one where a fairytale ending is the exception rather than the norm. If anyone was ever set up to be that exception though, it is Korawad Chearavanont.

For Chearavanont, the fourth-generation of the family that owns and operates Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group—Thailand’s largest conglomerate—entrepreneurship wasn’t a matter of if but when. CP Group’s empire spans across sectors like agriculture, retail, real estate, and telecommunications, employing 310,000 people around the world. But as Chearavanont explains it, the family rule is that each member must start something of their own.

AUTHOR

Ka Kay Lum

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Ka Kay covers investment activities, aka following the money, across Southeast Asia and in-depth stories on the often-overlooked Malaysian startup ecosystem. She was previously a regional writer for Nikkei-owned DealStreetAsia.

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