Posted on by Raihan Hadi
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Datuk Jake Abdullah joins Fave Malaysia as MD
26 Jun
Datuk Jake Abdullah has officially been unveiled as the new MD for Fave Malaysia.
After 23 years of being in the radio business, he is getting into a totally new arena that has do with mobile commerce and the like.
“Consumer patterns have changed, so many people are on their mobile phones, and there is so much stuff going on in that space,” he said.
Extracting consumer data is part and parcel of this experience and brands can really drive growth of their products and services in this marketplace.
E-payments are a great way for merchants to get into data analytics and mitigate fraud as well.
Finally, Datuk Jake Abdullah says its been a great 23 years at Astro, he has enjoyed working with Henry Tan whom he learnt a lot from and is leaving Astro with fond memories and great spirit.
Taking over at Astro as director of Radio and Rocketfuel, is chief content officer Ramesh Sankey.
Fave, a leading regional loyalty and payments platform has officially announced the addition of two new senior hires to their team – Mr Jason Tan has been appointed as Fave’s new Chief Financial Officer, and Mr Jake Abdullah has been appointed as the new Managing Director for Malaysia.
Jason has more than 17 years of experience in Southeast Asia’s financial services industry; holding key roles in finance, strategic planning, corporate development and operations.
Previously, Jason served as Chief Financial Officer of OVO, one of Indonesia’s leading startups specialising in digital payments, rewards and privileges.
Prior to OVO, Jason was director at CIMB Group, spearheading the bank’s regional corporate strategy, operations and partner-driven initiatives in both Malaysia and Indonesia.
As Chief Financial Officer, Jason is responsible for driving Fave’s economic growth and overseeing all financial operations including fundraising, corporate development, and venturing into new markets and business verticals.
He has an in-depth set knowledge of and experience in business development, financial analysis, mergers and acquisitions and investor relations.
With full responsibility for the leadership and development of Fave’s business in Malaysia, Jake will play a key role in leading the company’s growth goals as well as building on the Fave’s outstanding reputation for service to their merchants and consumers in the country.
He will join Fave in August 2019 after spending the last 23 years at Astro Malaysia where he was named CEO of Astro Radio in December 2013.
In his role, he oversaw Astro Radio’s strategic direction, particularly for brands and talent, as well as driving radex growth.
He also spearheaded talent-driven content across the group’s platforms. Jake also led the setup of four Astro affiliated radio stations overseas, namely Aamar FM and Power FM in India; and Gen FM and Jak FM in Jakarta.
“We are very pleased to welcome both Jason and Jake to Fave,” said Joel Neoh, Co-Founder of Fave.
“At Fave, we are committed to pushing our boundaries across our markets, and business verticals, Jason’s financial services experience will serve Fave and our stakeholders well while Jake’s leadership experience and presence in Malaysia makes him well suited to serve as the country’s Managing Director. He will bring the necessary leadership and market knowledge to the team to further our commitment to our merchants in Malaysia.”
“Fave has reached an exciting and pivotal time in the company’s history, and I’m humbled to be a part of this ambitious team of talented individuals,” said Jason.
“I look forward to applying my experience and leadership not only with sights on the achievement of the company’s financial and strategic goals but with a genuine passion for supporting Fave in the drive for technology adoption for merchants in Asia.”
Echoing his sentiments, Jake said, “I look forward to working with Fave to bring about the benefits of the digital economy to local F&B and retailers in Malaysia. Joel and his team have an impressive track record of delivering high-quality solutions to market, and it’s an honour and pleasure to be part of this exciting organization.”
The appointments of both Jason Tan and Jake Abdullah comes during a period of accelerated growth for Fave in the areas of growth, merchant acquisition, and new services expansion.
In 2018, the loyalty and payments platform raised US$20 million in Series B funding led by investors Sequoia Capital, Venturra Capital and SIG , this was then followed by the acquiring and acqui-hiring of F&B startups, WAAVE, CutQ and FoodTime in Singapore and Malaysia in May 2019.
Fave has also recently embarked on an ambitious pilot project to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) obtain micro-loans from the region’s leading financial institutions.
