Climb’s Dale Foster on Q2 Strength, Marketplaces & More

Climb Global Solutions recently announced a strong second-quarter performance, building on momentum that has been growing since last year. CEO Dale Foster spoke with Channel Insider to share his reflections on success and what’s next for the value-added distributor.

Double-digit growth tied to key accounts and DSS strength post-acquisition

Net sales in the second quarter of 2025 increased 73% to $159.3 million compared to $92.1 million for the same period in 2024, according to the data released by the company this week. Adjusted net income and EBITDA are also up over 60 percentage points each.

Foster points to a strong foundation as the reason why the company has scaled so quickly worldwide with its linecard of mainstream and emerging vendors.

“It all goes back to the structure we started building around four years ago, and that has maintained even as we’ve grown,” Foster said. “We’re in different countries and regions, but we’re all doing the same thing, and that’s crucial.”

Part of the recent growth is also related to internal operations at scale. Foster says the company has worked hard to develop a more advanced ERP system that provides a seamless experience for everyone involved. That, combined with the inclusion of Douglas Stewart Services following the acquisition’s complete integration, has driven the strong revenue growth.

“We need to be able to platform these companies properly if we’re going to acquire them. We rolled out the new ERP last July and had Douglas Stewart in it by April, and now all of our teams are having conversations specific to K-12 and higher education that we weren’t having with customers before,” Foster said.

Foster had previously told Channel Insider that Citrix’s changes in its market approach would impact the distributor’s ability to serve partner needs in that category. Now, as the company continues to grow and diversify its portfolio, Foster says the impact was only an opportunity for its teams to think more strategically.

“We’re on target, and I’m not worried about the rest of the year,” Foster said.

Marketplace strategy tops list of Foster’s priorities in 2025

For all the success Climb has seen this year, Foster admits there are still key opportunities that Climb needs to wrap its arms around this year. For one, he says the team is going all-in on future iterations of its Expedition Marketplace as partners and customers shift their buying habits towards digital experiences.

“We need to be able to transact how partners and customers want to transact, and that’s going to be in a marketplace where you can come to and buy what you need and what customers want from you,” Foster said.

Even with the push behind Expedition in mind, Foster says he has learned over the past few years that marketplaces without additional resources dedicated to selling products and services don’t go very far. 

“It actually strengthened our go-to-market, because we carry products that have to be sold, demonstrated, and talked about by people who understand them,” said Foster. “That’s the issue with large marketplaces. Amazon isn’t going to sell your product. They’ll transact it, but they won’t have the sales workforce to actually go sell your product to people and explain it and the value behind it.”

Security and AI remain strong business drivers

Foster estimates that around 60 percent of Climb’s vendors are security-focused, so it should come as no surprise that its partner base remains focused on leveraging emerging technology to keep clients secure.

He says that many, if not all, of the vendors Climb works with have added AI solutions to their products this year, and his team remains committed to ongoing conversations to better understand the value of those products and then bring them effectively to partners. And, in line with the company’s selective vendor strategy, they continue to explore emerging technologies and vendors that are just entering the space.

“We’re looking for AI companies that do something different, and not necessarily in the security space.”

Foster also highlights strategic global expansion as a key facet of his vendor strategy moving forward. He wants to see vendors who already perform well with Climb in one region expand their global market reach, specifically by leveraging North American agreements to include the UK and Ireland region.

“We have to leverage the relationships we have with key vendors to expand. We have strong vendors in all regions and want to continue to flesh those out, especially in UK&I,” said Foster.