On a chilly morning in Ljubljana, someone flips the lock on an office door that says EKWB—EK Water Blocks—on the glass. Once, this was the global nerve center for the world’s flashiest PC liquid cooling gear. Today, it feels more like the afterparty on cleanup duty. The water coolers are still humming, but everyone’s watching the ledger more than the thermals. Is EKWB going out of business? Not exactly. But let’s just say nobody’s ordering cake.
When you build your brand as the gold standard for performance-obsessed PC mods, people notice if you drop the ball. By early 2024, EKWB was rumored to be debt-riddled, with tweets flying about unpaid partners and inventory stacked like silent disco speakers. It wasn’t pretty, but this is business—weird stuff happens when you run too hot for too long.
The Financial Freeze: How EKWB Nearly Lost Its Cool
There’s no shortage of companies that fly too close to the sun, but EKWB’s flameout is textbook. The company built its rep through the 2010s selling liquid cooling hardware to anyone who wanted their custom PC to look and run like a spaceship. By 2023, though, EKWB wasn’t just famous with gamers and tech shops; a growing chorus of suppliers was asking, “Where’s my money?”
The numbers told a sobering story. Months of delayed payments, employees waiting on wages, and thousands of water blocks clogging up warehouses. Customers? Some got refunds—they just took a small eternity. Ex-staff? Many only got paid after public outcry.
If you’ve worked for any scrappy hardware startup, this probably sounds familiar. But by late 2024, EKWB was in freefall. Leadership admitted outright mismanagement—no spin, no bland “unexpected headwinds.” The boss, Edvard König (yes, the actual “EK” in EKWB), openly copped to the mess when he returned as CEO. That rare honesty, along with visible stress on his face in company videos, told you this was not just a blip.
Transportation costs were up, component prices were up, and inventory was piling up so fast it looked like a warehouse sale was the only way out. For a company that once symbolized premium performance, this has led to plenty of side-eye from fans and skeptics alike.
Edvard König Returns: The CEO as Firefighter
Edvard König’s homecoming wasn’t just for nostalgia. Folks inside the company will tell you straight up: things felt broken. König didn’t promise miracles, but he did start lifting the lid on the company’s mistakes. “This will take time to fix,” he admitted, “but we’re not giving up.”
Under his lead, EKWB began paying old debts—employees, suppliers, freelance designers, even some former execs. They set up payment plans, published statements listing who was owed what, and pushed to clear the records. König’s approach was almost painfully transparent. There were spreadsheets, online Q&As, and a sense that, while things still looked rough, at least someone was airing out the dirty laundry.
Hard choices followed. Some lines were cut, some pricing reworked, and several positions streamlined. In startup speak: they trimmed fat to stop the bleeding. In plain English: people lost jobs, and a lot of gear got discounted to claw back cash.
But the company didn’t vanish. König and his shrinking crew kept the lights on, banking on a Hail Mary—buying time for some kind of restart.
A New Player Enters: LM TEK Takes Charge
Then, in March 2025, a twist. Slovenian tech outfit LM TEK, d.o.o. officially took over EKWB’s key operations. Think of this less as a funeral and more like getting adopted by a second cousin with an MBA and a pulse.
LM TEK didn’t bury the EK brand. If anything, they leaned into its mystique (all those water blocks and years of PC community cred are hard to reproduce from scratch). The strategy? Keep EKWB alive as a brand, while LM TEK handles the messy financial stuff—settling debts, cooling frustrated customers, re-hiring support teams, and convincing suppliers not to walk away.
The deal transferred the webshop (EKWB’s home base for direct sales), product management, and support infrastructure to LM TEK. That included customer accounts, warranty files, email lists—the works. LM TEK promised better product availability, streamlined supply chains, and a focus on consistency over spectacle.
You can feel the switch if you visit the EKWB website or order a new pump: the shipping notices now come from LM TEK. For most customers, it’s business as usual. For former creditors and ex-employees, the new regime is about making good on old IOUs.
Leadership Shuffle: Putting Out Internal Fires, One Paycheck at a Time
When a company is in freefall, the new bosses have a choice—either paper over the damage and hope nobody notices, or actually fix things. LM TEK did a bit of both.
They brought in new management—folks with track records in finance, logistics, and operations, not just liquid cooling fandom. Their first move? Settle outstanding pay and compensation disputes. Reports indicate every known affected employee, contractor, and supplier got squared up—sometimes in stages, but the gaps closed by spring 2025.
Publicly, the LM TEK guys struck a “no drama, just business” tone. Internally, there was some side-eye (skeptics never die), but when the overdue paychecks cleared, the mood began to thaw.
Training got overhauled, workflows got streamlined, and managers with better people skills took over inboxes once filled with angry emails. LM TEK promised no more flying without a parachute—no more grand launches unless the bank balance could handle it. That may sound boring if you’re a diehard gearhead, but for a company that nearly bled out, boring is great.
How EKWB Operates Now: The Brand Survives, the Backstage Changes
Ask the average EKWB customer if anything’s changed, and most will shrug—they still see branded gear shipping worldwide. The boxes still say EKWB, and the fittings are just as shiny. The difference happens behind the scenes.
All online orders, customer support, and returns now run through LM TEK’s staffing and systems. Product flow is steadier thanks to tighter supplier agreements. Issues that used to take weeks now get a response in a couple of days. If something goes wrong, LM TEK service reps (not the old EKWB crew) take your angry chat and nudge the warehouse for a replacement.
That’s intentional. LM TEK’s playbook centers on reliability, not just hype. Their stated goal: never have warehouses overflowing with unsold blocks again, and never stiff staff or suppliers. That’s how you rebuild trust after a train wreck.
For business-minded readers, the sweet spot is this: protect the equity in the EKWB name, but never mistake branding for balance sheets. Survival here is about paying every bill, keeping service tight, and avoiding wild bets on untested product lines. If you’re building a side hustle or startup, it’s basically Case Study #18 on why every business needs boring systems.
So, Is EKWB Going Out of Business?
Short version: No, EKWB is not going out of business—at least not this quarter. But if you’re looking for the same company culture or leadership swagger that once dominated PC modder forums, those days are done. Instead, EKWB now runs under the careful (some would say strict) oversight of LM TEK, a firm that understands spreadsheets at least as well as heat transfer.
All of the old debts? Slammed shut, or nearly there, as of spring 2025. All the frantic rumor tweets and worried Reddit posts? Still there for posterity, but less urgent now. Reports of bankruptcy were overblown, but not by much—it could have gone either way.
If you’re running a hardware business—or dreaming of starting one—take this as gospel: big brands can stumble, but transparency and hard-nosed problem-solving beat PR spin every time. EKWB’s path back from near-ruin was built on owning mistakes, restructuring under new leadership, and putting service and solvency ahead of stunts.
Business has always rewarded survivors. The new model at EKWB, under LM TEK’s roof, proves that a brand can bounce back if there’s humility to learn from screw-ups and the discipline to avoid repeating them.
For more real-world stories about business comebacks and corporate survival tactics, check out The Business Back. Every tale is a new reminder: behind every brand, there’s a ledger—and sometimes rock bottom is the best teacher.
The Takeaway: EKWB Isn’t Dead, But the Reboot Is Real
Is the future bright and unlimited? No one with skin in the game would make that promise. But there’s solid ground under EKWB again, and the new hands minding the store show that competence (even if it’s less glamorous than hype) keeps the lights on.
Customers still get their merch, suppliers get paid, and ModMyPC subreddits can debate coolant colors instead of bankruptcy rumors. If you’re chasing your own business’s next stage, consider EKWB’s reboot a case study: when the going gets weird, open the books, ask for help, and never let pride kill the business.
Here’s to catching your breath, learning from your smoldering mistakes, and—when you’re finally ready—firing up the brand again, one step smarter.
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