LinkedIn APAC Managing Director joins PropertyGuru Group as President

SINGAPORE, 4 November 2015 – PropertyGuru Group, Asia’s leading online property group, is pleased to announce the appointment of LinkedIn executive Hari Krishnan as President and Chief Business Officer, effective 1 January 2016. In this newly-created role, Mr. Krishnan will focus on leading and accelerating regional business growth initiatives, with Country Managers and Sales Enablement teams in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia reporting directly to him. 

Hari is currently the Managing Director, APAC & Japan at LinkedIn, where he leads more than 1,000 employees across 10 offices to create and deliver value for more than 78 million members and clients. He joined LinkedIn as its first employee in Asia in 2009, and was its Country Manager for India before he was promoted to his current position. Hari brings with him more than 15 years of industry leadership, accelerating brand recognition, revenue growth and monetisation strategies for technology and social media organisations across Asia Pacific. Prior to LinkedIn, Hari led the market entry for two hyper-growth Internet companies into the vibrant Indian market and has worked in leadership positions in companies such as Fox Interactive Media, Yahoo! and Cisco. He was also the Vice President for Product Management & Marketing at Travelguru during the initial rapid growth period for the Indian online travel industry.

Steve Melhuish, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of PropertyGuru Group said, “PropertyGuru is the market leader in three of the four markets we operate and we continue to grow rapidly. I am therefore delighted to welcome such a seasoned executive such as Hari to lead all our business activities regionally. I look forward to working closely with him and our leadership team in taking our business to the next level.” 

Hari first used PropertyGuru's portal when he relocated to Singapore. Speaking about the appointment, he added, "PropertyGuru is synonymous with the process of searching for a home in Singapore. As a happy customer, I am now excited to help the company to its next growth phase across the region. It is a privilege for me to join Steve and the leadership team as the company continues to further elevate the home search process. Surfacing the unique insights available on the platform, and by partnering even closer with real estate agents and developers in the region, we are looking to be the go-to platform for everyone who wants a dream home.”

Hari was recognized with the ‘Distinguished Alumni’ award from his engineering college within the University of Mumbai and was on Business Today’s list of 'India's Hottest Young Executives', among other awards. He is a frequent speaker at INSEAD and Singapore Management University (SMU) and was the 2015 MBA commencement ceremony keynote speaker at the SP Jain School of Global Management. He sits on the board for U2opia Mobile, a privately-held mobile applications company and the Singapore chapter of TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), a not-for-profit organisation focused on fostering entrepreneurship. Hari holds an MBA in General Management & Finance from INSEAD and an M.S. in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

--ENDS--

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PropertyGuru Group is Asia’s leading online property portal group used by more than 11 million property buyers, viewing over 104 million property pages and generating over 500,000 enquiries for real estate developer and agent advertisers – every month – across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. 

Headquartered in Singapore, PropertyGuru was founded in 2006 by two entrepreneurs with a vision to simplify the property search process and help buyers, sellers and investors make better property decisions faster. Taking advantage of Asia’s growing affluence, property demand and online explosion, PropertyGuru has become market leader in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The Group received S$175million investment - the largest in the technology sector in Southeast Asia in 2015 - to support its innovation, marketing and further expansion in the region.

With a continued focus on innovation, PropertyGuru has developed and launched 15 mobile applications in four countries and three languages. At present, the Group records over 2.5 million downloaded mobile apps. PropertyGuru was also the first to integrate its website with social media and first to launch Singapore’s only dedicated property newspaper, read by more than 100,000 readers island-wide every month. PropertyGuru has also developed a property events platform with approximately 20 shows held annually across four countries, addressing 20,000 potential property buyers on the ground. 

PropertyGuru offices in the region include:

 PropertyGuru.com.sg in Singapore 
 PropertyGuru.com.my in Malaysia
 DDProperty.com in Thailand
 Rumah.com in Indonesia

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Steve is an award-winning entrepreneur. In the last two decades, he built profitable companies throughout Asia and Europe. He co-founded PropertyGuru due to his personal frustrations at trying to find a new home in 2006. Today, PropertyGuru is the leading online property group in South East Asia used by over 10 million property seekers and 31,000 property advertisers every month. Prior to Steve’s current role, he held advised various firms including Skype, AOL, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Extreme Media, iPass and Ariadne Capital. He also led global teams and a US$500 million turnover business unit for Cable & Wireless. In 2007, Steve was awarded the Spirit of Enterprise Award in recognition of his contributions to entrepreneurship in Singapore. Steve has invested in 4 digital media firms and is passionate about Asia + Digital.