Joel Neoh Eu-Jin
Joel at Groupon Malaysia headquarters in 2013
Born (1983-10-11) 11 October 1983
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
NationalityMalaysian
EducationHarvard Business School
Tsinghua University
Monash University
OccupationInternational Vice President of Groupon Asia-Pacific
Years active2006–present
Chinese name
Chinese梁友仁[1]
Hanyu PinyinLiáng Yǒurén
JyutpingLoeng4 Jau5 Jan4
Hokkien POJNiû Iú-jîn

Joel Neoh Eu-Jin (born 11 October 1983) is a Malaysian entrepreneur, speaker, and investor. He is best known for his role as the founder of Groupon Malaysia and as the International Vice President of Groupon Asia Pacific.[2] He is the founder of Fave but stepped down as its CEO in 2023.[3][4]

At the age of 20, his first business venture was a fast-growing student agency set-up.[5] In 2007 he participated in The Firm, Malaysia's first corporate reality television programme produced by Popiah Pictures and ntv7 and became the show's inaugural winner.[6] In 2008 he started a business venture called Youth Asia, a social technology company known for the creation of a few technology startups, including YouthSays (which later on rebranded itself to Says Sdn Bhd) and GroupsMore, which later on joined Groupon via acquisition in 2010.[7]

In 2012 he won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Emerging Entrepreneur category in Malaysia. He was named as one of Asia's Top 10 entrepreneurs[8] as well as Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum in 2013.[9]

Early life and education

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Joel is the youngest son of two teachers. Joel graduated as one of the top 3 students from his course in Monash University with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2005 and is a Monash scholarship holder.[10] Before that, he completed his South Australian Matriculation at Taylor's College where he was a scholarship holder with an average of 94.45%.[11] At university, Joel won the annual Warman student Design-and-Build Competition. Joel is also a former national representative for rock climbing and squash.[12] Joel completed his executive education at Harvard Business School.[13] Currently he is attending Tsinghua University Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA).

Career

The Firm

Joel is the winner of Malaysia's first corporate reality television programme The Firm (Season 1) in 2007 and was the youngest of 10 contestants at the age of 23.[14]

Youth Asia

Joel's first startup was a student agency which matched fresh graduates with employers.[15] In 2008 he started a business venture called Youth Asia, responsible for running its flagship annual youth event, The Youth Festival - Malaysia's Largest Youth Festival. The Festival was known as YOUTH'08, YOUTH'09 and YOUTH'10 respectively, and gathered over 100,000 young Malaysians within 3 years.[16]

SAYS.com

Joel's team started YouthSays Sdn Bhd, an online youth opinion community under the Youth Asia umbrella, based in Malaysia. The company was responsible for a few other flagship events and campaigns, including Southeast Asia Youths for Change (SEAChange), a two day summit held in Putrajaya International Convention Center, Putrajaya.

Rev Asia

As a result of SAYS.com merger with Catcha Media, Joel was appointed to the board of directors of the newly rebranded Rev Asia as a non-executive director.[17]

Groupon

In August 2010, Joel's team in Youth Asia started GroupsMore, a social e-commerce startup mimicking the Groupon business model. Within 4 months, the company joined Groupon via acquisition in an undisclosed amount and rebranded itself to Groupon Malaysia.[18]

Joel served as CEO of Groupon Malaysia. In 2012, his role expanded to the Taiwan market, where he stood in as CEO of Groupon Taiwan on top of his role in Malaysia.[19] He, later on, stepped up to be the Regional Lead for the Southeast Asian markets, responsible for operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and India. In 2013, Joel became the Vice President of Groupon Asia-Pacific, directly responsible for the 12 markets: Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia.[20]

KFit and Fave

In May 2015, it was announced that Joel's next entrepreneurial venture was KFit, a platform that connects users to fitness studios, classes and gyms across Asia Pacific.[21] It was also announced that KFit had raised a seven-figure US-dollar seed funding round from 500 Startups, SXE Ventures, and Founders Global. Two angel investors also joined in – Daniel Shin, founder and CEO of Ticket Monster, and Danny Yeung, the former CEO of Groupon Hong Kong.[22]

Investments

In September 2014, it was reported that Joel was part of a group of investors that invested $750,000 in Snaptee, an app that let users turn their smartphone photos into T-shirt designs.[23] Joel is also limited partner investing in 500 Durians, the South-East Asian fund started by Silicon Valley's 500 Startups.[24] He is also the co-founder of the mobile medical application BookDoc.[25]

Awards

In 2012, Joel was named as Ernst & Young's Emerging Entrepreneur of the year.[26] Top 10 of Asia Magazine has also named him as one of the Top 10 Young Entrepreneurs in Asia.[27] Neoh was also awarded the Malaysian Service Medal by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.[28] Joel now also serves on the Advisory Board for the School of Business, Monash University.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "创业新秀：梁友仁．引领网购GROUPON风潮". Sin Chew Daily. 18 December 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Malaysian takes up regional role for Groupon". 12 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Groupon is now called Fave | Free Malaysia Today". Archived from the original on 2017-02-23.
  4. ↑ "Joel Neoh to step down as founder & CEO of fintech firm Fave in March". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  5. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Groupon Buying Giant". 25 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Founder of Groupon Malaysia: 'Go big or go home'". 23 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Groupon extends reach with acquisition of GroupsMore". 26 January 2011.
  8. ↑ "Asia's Top 10".
  9. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Groupon Buying Giant". 25 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Joel: Monash Graduate'". Archived from the original on 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  11. ↑ "Taylor's Alumni".
  12. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Founder of Groupon Malaysia: 'Go big or go home'". Malaysia Tatler. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "Balancing Practical Experience with Powerful Frameworks - Executive Education - Harvard Business School". HBS Executive Education. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  14. ↑ "Joel Neoh - Keynote, Public, After Dinner, Event & Guest Speaker - London Speaker Bureau". Archived from the original on 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2014-11-03.
  15. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Founder of Groupon Malaysia: 'Go big or go home'". 23 June 2014.
  16. ↑ "Malaysia's Largest Youth Festival". 29 May 2010.
  17. ↑ "[NEW UPDATE] It's Official: SAYS and Catcha Become Rev Media". 15 May 2013.
  18. ↑ "Groupon Expands in Southeast Asia, Now Offering Deals in Malaysia" (Press release). 25 January 2011.
  19. ↑ "Top 10 of Asia". Archived from the original on 2013-06-29.
  20. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Groupon buying giant - People | The Star Online". Archived from the original on 2013-11-28.
  21. ↑ "Welcome to kfit.com". Archived from the original on 2001-11-29.
  22. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem".
  23. ↑ "T-Shirt Design App Snaptee Raises $750,000 in Additional Funding". 2 September 2014.
  24. ↑ "Joel Neoh quits Groupon, goes back into startup mode". 19 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Mobile health app BookDoc launched in Malaysia". Healthcare Innovation. 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  26. ↑ http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/News_release_20121206/$FILE/News%20release%20MY%2020121206%20-%20Dr%20Chia%20Song%20Kun%20of%20QL%20Resources%20named%20the%20Malaysian%20EY%20Entrepreneur%20of%20the%20Year%202012.pdf
  27. ↑ "Top 10 of Asia". Archived from the original on 2013-06-29.
  28. ↑ "Joel Neoh, Groupon buying giant - People | The Star Online". Archived from the original on 2013-11-28.
  29. ↑ "Joel Neoh - Monash University Sunway campus". Archived from the original on 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
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