Fave CEO Resigns From Company After Eight Years In Service

Fave Co-founder & CEO Joel Neoh has announced that he will be leaving the company effective March 1, 2023. It has not yet been announced who will replace him.

Simultaneously, Fave Co-Founder Yeoh Chen Chow will continue the business with Fave Singapore General Manager Avantika Jain; also Aik Kuang Heng as the newly appointed General Manager of Fave Malaysia; with local leadership teams in Indonesia and India.

Quote from e27, in his official statement Neoh said that he had the privilege of a lifetime to work with the best talent in Southeast Asia who built Fave into a great consumer brand.

“Today, one in every Singaporean and millions of consumers in Malaysia, Indonesia and India use Fave every day for payments and earn reward. With a strong leadership and culture that has been built, I am confident of the company's sustainable growth in the coming years," he said.

He continued, “When I leave Fave, I look forward to further contributing to the Southeast Asia tech ecosystem, helping other fellow entrepreneurs grow on their startup journeys.”

Neoh was one of the original founders of Groupon in Malaysia in 2011, when he managed a $2 billion business at Groupon Pacific with over 2.500 employees. Previously in 2009, he co-founded Say.com, a digital media platform which was merged with Rev Asia and acquired by media conglomerate Media Prima.

Neoh's journey as an investor in Southeast Asia is also worth highlighting. He is said to have funded more than 25 startups through his role as mentor and advisor at Endeavor Malaysia, XA Network, Sunway University, and limited partners in 500 Southeast Asia III, Better Bite Ventures, and others.

Neoh said he will continue to contribute to the digital startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia. While enjoying his time off, he will return and support other founders and entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia.

“Over the last 10 years the tech sector has seen a surge in start-ups, hundreds of VC-funded companies, and then some unicorn and publicly listed companies, leading to a string of quality founders with extraordinary potential. It is an honor to assist these leaders on their journey from zero to one." he said.

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Since its founding eight years ago, Fave is a sales platform e-vouchers for merchant across categories such as food, beauty, relaxation, activities, retail and services. The product is a variety of offerings (deals), QR payments, cashbackand rewards. There is also a feature eCards, digital cards that provide cashback for every purchase on partner eCards.

The company says that throughout 2022, it has achieved an all-time high transaction volume, reflecting the company's growing popularity and market share. Internal data shows growth of 40% basis quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and good achievements are predicted this year.

It is targeted that the company will launch more collaborations with major banks and financial institutions across markets, providing more flexible payment options for online merchants in the second quarter of 2023. Fave currently operates in four countries with headquarters in Malaysia. Full post-acquisition by Pine Labs in April 2021, Fave is expanding to India and rolling out features there.

In Indonesia, Fave entered through its sister company KFit after the acquisition of Groupon Indonesia in 2016. Then it was rebranded as Fave until now it operates in five cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, Surabaya and Medan. Even though from the location coverage there was no addition from the last news, but from the search DailySocial.id, merchant those who join are increasingly diverse from across businesses.

Moreover, the five cities above are the main cities with a high level of economy and population in Indonesia. So that it can be very suitable for Fave's target users whose demographics are already familiar with digital products. Players like Fave aren't quite the same, but some come close, in between TADA, Cashbac, Qraved, and Chope.