Press

1 April 2026

Trip101 Completes Management Buyout (MBO), Expands Into Heritage Travel

Singapore — Trip101, a Singapore-based global travel content platform focused on unique stays and new experiences, has completed a management buyout (MBO) led by its local co-founders and management team.

Trip101 was founded in 2015 by Venture Republic Inc. Japan, led by travel technology entrepreneur Kei Shibata, together with the Singapore-based founding team led by Venkatraman Dhamodaran and Shaw Chian Kuck.

Over the years, Trip101 built a global travel discovery and creator platform serving international travelers, while developing a broad network of creators and contributors across multiple countries and destinations worldwide. Trip101 has reached more than 2 million monthly readers and has worked with global OTAs and hospitality partners. The company has also recently expanded into the heritage hospitality space through its new brand, HistoricStays101.

Following the transaction, Trip101 will continue to operate independently under the leadership of its existing local management team.

"As part of a broader personal transition after many years building and operating travel businesses across Japan and Singapore, this felt like the right next step for the company. I'm deeply grateful to the team, partners, creators, and users who supported Trip101 throughout the journey."

"This MBO signals an exciting new chapter for Trip101, reaffirming our deep commitment to the platform we co-founded, and we are now focused on accelerating our growth. We are grateful for the partnership with Kei and Venture Republic."

"Our focus remains on serving international travelers through high-quality, inspiring content, while also developing exciting new verticals such as HistoricStays101. This transition gives us the independence to pursue new strategic initiatives in the travel and hospitality space."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.