About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Metamako Makes First Acquisition as it Takes on xCelor’s Hardware Business

Subscribe to our newsletter

Metamako has acquired the network device business of Chicago based xCelor, bringing xCelor hardware customers into the Metamako fold and allowing xCelor to concentrate on developing high-performance network applications that will be provided on Metamako hardware. This is Metamako’s first acquisition and a strategic milestone for the provider of low-latency FPGA-enabled network solutions.

Sydney based Metamako has grown quickly since it came to market in 2013, developing a client base of over 100 companies, building its own applications such as the MetaWatch network monitoring solution and MetaFilter FPGA app that delivers ultra low-latency market data filtering. It has also built an ecosystem of partners writing apps for its devices, while customers can also write their own apps for the devices.

The acquisition moves Metamako another step forward, adding xCelor’s switch business, six hardware customers and another app partner. It also sets a precedent for further inorganic growth.

Kevin Covington, CEO at Metamako, says: “The company will be five years old next month. It is backed by private and venture funding and has grown well. It has been cashflow positive since its early years and its profitability means it could reinvest in skills and capabilities. We have now added to this by acquiring assets from xCelor. Our goal is to be the industry’s platform of choice for high-performance in network devices and applications.”

Rob Walker, chief technology officer at xCelor, describes the acquisition as a win-win for both the firms and the industry as a whole. He says: “While Metamako strengthens its hardware business, xCelor can completely focus on developing cutting-edge network applications, something we have wanted to do for a few months.”

Metamako recently opened a Chicago office to support the acquisition and expand its presence and support offer in North America. Beyond headquarters in Sydney, it also has offices in New York and London. Covington notes that while Australia hosts the company’s core engineering skills base, 90% of its customers are elsewhere.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: Navigating the Build vs Buy Dilemma: Cloud Strategies for Accelerating Quantitative Research

Date: 20 May 2026 Time: 10:00am ET / 3:00pm London / 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 minutes For many quantitative trading firms and asset managers, building a self-provisioned historical market data environment remains one of the most time-consuming and resource-intensive steps in establishing a new research capability. Sourcing data, normalising symbologies, handling corporate actions and maintaining...

BLOG

LSEG and Anthropic Partner to Embed Financial Data into AI Workflows

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has announced a significant collaboration with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, aimed at embedding its vast reserves of financial data directly into Anthropic’s new “Claude for Financial Services” offering. The move marks a key development in LSEG’s AI strategy, dubbed “LSEG Everywhere,” which focuses on making its trusted, licensed data...

EVENT

Data Management Summit London

Now in its 16th year, the Data Management Summit (DMS) in London brings together the European capital markets enterprise data management community, to explore how data strategy is evolving to drive business outcomes and speed to market in changing times.

GUIDE

Risk & Compliance

The current financial climate has meant that risk management and compliance requirements are never far from the minds of the boards of financial institutions. In order to meet the slew of regulations on the horizon, firms are being compelled to invest in their systems in order to cope with the new requirements. Data management is...