Ken Lau was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and went to Melbourne to study Computer Science at University. While he did not necessarily intend to be a lifelong programmer, he knew that combining this knowledge with business acumen would give him a significant edge. As it stands today in Southeast Asia, that is still a rare combination.
Prior to his entry into the startup world, Ken worked in marketing research and sales transformation roles at companies like Hennessy and Accenture. Also, during the South African World Cup, Ken and his friends started a cafe and bistro. At that time, group buying sites were all the rage and he was constantly being approached by them to list on their platforms. He joined a few of these sites and saw traffic at his cafe grow quickly…signaling to him and his partners the real power of the online world.
Ken was now hooked into joining the startup world!
He sold his cafe, joined MaGIC as a mentor and noticed that while startups were enthusiastic and optimistic, many did not understand the real risks associated with starting and building a business from scratch.
While acting as an entrepreneur in residence at 123RF, he was given time to develop his own business that grew out of his passion for travel and outdoor activities…Adventoro was born.
Adventoro is an adventure travel platform that includes unique packages in everything from hiking and caving to culinary tours. The global adventure travel industry is over $250BN in size and is still growing rapidly. Adventoro is already the largest player in Malaysia and intends to be the largest in Southeast Asia over the next 18 months.
Episode 21 – Ken Lau – CEO & Founder, Adventoro – Mass Travel Just Doesn’t Cut It
