Fave, a leading consumer fintech platform in Southeast Asia has announced that its Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Joel Neoh will leave his role by early March 2023.
Co-founder Yeoh Chen Chow will continue to lead the business together with Avantika Jain, General Manager in Singapore, Aik Kuang Heng, Fave’s newly appointed General Manager in Malaysia, alongside local leadership teams in Indonesia and India. As the most recent senior hire, Aik Kuang has held senior leadership roles in organisations such as iflix and WeTV SEA prior to joining Fave.
The company was founded in 2015 and Joel’s visionary leadership led Fave to tap into the massive opportunity for cashless payments in its early days, positioning the company as one of the leading players in Southeast Asia’s fintech space.
Fave’s products have evolved from offering deals to empowering customers’ savings through QR payments and loyalty programmes on both the Fave app and other major banks and digital wallets including DBS PayLah!, UOB TMRW, Google Pay, and Touch ’n Go. Fave fully acquired the e-commerce company Groupon in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia back in 2017. The company experienced strong traction across Southeast Asia and was later acquired by Pine Labs for US$45 million in 2021.
Joel leaves Fave with strong leadership in place and solid momentum for growth. By the end of 2022, Fave had achieved its all-time highest volumes of transactions, reflecting the company’s growing popularity and market share. The data shows a staggering 40% quarter-on-quarter growth and the trajectory is well set for 2023. The company will be rolling out more collaborations with key banks and financial institutions across the markets; as well as targeting to enter the flexible payment processing space for online merchants in Q2.
Joel Neoh, outgoing CEO and Founder of Fave shared: “I have had the privilege of a lifetime to work with some of the best talents in Southeast Asia to build Fave into a household brand name – today, 1 out of every 3 Singaporeans, and millions of consumers across Malaysia, Indonesia and India use Fave on a daily basis for payments and rewards. With the strong leadership and culture we have built, I am confident in the company’s continued growth in the years to come. As I leave Fave, I look forward to further contributing to Southeast Asia’s technology ecosystem, paying it forward by helping other fellow entrepreneurs grow in their startup journeys.”
B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, praised Joel’s leadership and dedication, stating, “He leaves behind a tremendous legacy. Fave is an extremely strong addition to Pine Labs’ company portfolio, and we are excited about the 2023 growth trajectory as Fave is set to break new boundaries in sales volumes and explore new countries.”
“During the last two years Joel has become a dear friend, and I will continue to pick his brain even as he departs the company. He will always be the founder of Fave and the greatest supporter of the business in the years to come.” added B Amrish Rau.
Joel was one of the founders of Groupon in Malaysia in 2011, where he later managed Groupon Asia Pacific’s US$2 billion business with over 2,500 employees. Prior to that, in 2009, he co-founded Says.com, a digital media platform that merged with Rev Asia and was acquired by Malaysia’s largest media conglomerate Media Prima.
Joel continues to remain plugged into Southeast Asia’s digital and technology ecosystem as an investor in over 25 startups, through holding mentorship and advisory roles in Endeavour Malaysia, XA Network, Sunway University, as a limited partner in 500 Southeast Asia III, Better Bite Ventures, and as an investor in Nasdaq-listed Prenetics, among others.
