From Singapore to Shenzhen, from Youbibi to Skyscanner, Steven Pang makes seamless transition from startup to global play
While others were still dreaming about the China travel opportunity, Steven Pang, a Singaporean living in Hong Kong, took the plunge back in 2010 to start a travel search business specialising in comparing flights, hotels and package holidays. He chose the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen as his s [...]
Book publishing, crowd funding, experiences – Mr & Mrs Smith’s formula for expansion
By many accounts, boutique hotel booking platform Mr & Mrs Smith has had an interesting year.
In April, it announced its step into the experiences space with the acquisition of UK-based tours and activities company, SideStory. Then, it announced plans to raise funds, albeit in an unconvention [...]
Uncovering stories of startups in Asia Part 1: Of challenges, funding and going global
Startups from China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Nepal and Israel took to the stage at the WiT Bootcmap held in conjunction with WiT Singapore 2018 conference last month to share their stories and the state of the startup ecosystem in their countries.
In this first part of the report we f [...]
Tushar Khandelwal: An entrepreneur’s Interstellar-inspired voyage into tours & activities
We remember Tushar Khandelwal, COO & co-founder, when he first pitched the idea of Voyagin at a WiTNext event aimed at future leaders. Since then, the tours & activities startup has gone places, been acquired by Rakuten and claims a solid footing in the most exciting space in online travel. [...]
Agoda teams up with JTB Corp and LINE Travel to expand online sales and distribution in Asia
Singapore based online travel agent (OTA) Agoda inked new deals last week with JTB Corp (JTB), Japan’s largest travel network, and LINE Travel, a newly-formed one-stop travel booking service in Taiwan.
In joining forces with two of Asia’s leading travel industry players Agoda, one of the worl [...]
WiT Singapore 2018: China outbound travel businesses get down to the hard work of global fun
While China’s mobile-propelled spending power has been a hot topic of late, the consensus is that transforming its successful outbound businesses into integrated regional travel powers will first require hard work and patience – especially to bridge the critical people-gap.
For the panel addr [...]
Teenage Tesloop founder switches direction from ride sharing to data connectivity: Here’s why
Ahead of their on-stage conversation at Phocuswright next Wednesday in Los Angeles, teenage founder of Tesloop, Haydn Sonnad, reveals to Yeoh Siew Hoon a change of direction for the company he founded in 2015 when he was 16.
Tesloop, the Tesla ride-sharing service started by teenager Haydn S [...]
KKday raises Series B+ funding, co-led by LINE Ventures and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund
Continuing to build momentum, Taiwan tours and activities startup KKday has just raised Series B+ funding, co-led by LINE Ventures and the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund.
Existing investors, including CDIB Capital and Monk’s Hill Ventures, also participated with follow-on investments, following KKd [...]
As Accor hits 1,000 in APAC, Issenberg ponders China softening, tech impact and talent
What does it take to grow a hotel group to 1,000 properties in Asia Pacific? Well, if you ask Michael Issenberg, CEO, AccorHotels APAC, it takes time and investing in people on the ground, helped of course by a handful of acquisitions.
“When I joined Accor 24 years ago, we had fewer than 50 [...]
The story of Mary Li: From ASLAN to Mystifly, from China to India, and truths in between
I first met Mary Li when she was introduced to me as the co-CEO of Mystifly, the India-based global airfares marketplace. My curiosity stirred, I did some research on her and found her back story. With no background in travel, she founded ASLAN, China's first data-driven travel technology company, c [...]
