Singapore-based hotel booking and management platform RedDoorz announced changes to its leadership team on August 26, with two new senior hires and an internal promotion.
Kelvin Teo, formerly managing director at Groupon Asia and chief business officer at MoneySmart Group, will join as the hotel startup’s chief operating officer. With 20 years of experience in tech and online industries, he will oversee RedDoorz’s business operations across the region.
Coming on as the company’s new Regional Vice President (Human Resources) is Trixie Thye, who previously served for 17 months as regional HR vice president and Business Partner at Pactera, a Beijing-headquartered IT consulting and outsourcing company.
Liviu Nedef has also moved up from the position of senior vice president of marketing and communications to chief marketing officer.
“Their wealth of experience and successful track record in our region will undoubtedly help us immensely on our mission to transform hospitality in Southeast Asia as we start to focus towards post-pandemic recovery,” Amit Saberwal, founder and CEO of RedDoorz, said.
RedDoorz was established in 2015 and has more than 1,800 properties across Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. Their investors include Qiming Venture Partners, Rakuten Capital, and Asia Partners. In October, KrASIA reported that RedDoorz had plans to go public in 2022. The firm had raised USD 70 million in Series C funding in August. Though he did not reveal the firm’s valuation, Saberwal noted that RedDoorz was on track to achieving unicorn status within the next few years.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on the travel and hospitality industries. As countries impose travel bans and movement restrictions, companies struggle to stay afloat. The global tourism industry has lost USD 320 billion in the first five months of the year and more than 120 million jobs are at risk.
RedDoorz has launched several COVID-19-related initiatives, such as Red Heroes, which provides temporary accommodation for frontline healthcare workers. The firm, which had been focusing on growth prior to the pandemic, is directing their efforts towards recovery and will be implementing a zero-revenue scheme until next year, The Jakarta Post reported.