Our Team

Kei Shibata

(CEO)
Kei Shibata

Kei is the co-founder of Venture Republic and has been serving as CEO since foundation. The company runs a group of online travel brands across Asia, including Travel jp, Allstay and Trip101. Kei is a prominent figure in Asia’s travel industry; not only is he an active angel investor in travel tech, he is also a co-founder of WIT Japan & North Asia, the largest conference in North Asia on tech and travel. Kei received a BA of Laws from Keio University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

An avid coffee drinker, Kei swears by Nozy’s -- one of Tokyo's famous roasters -- coffee-drip bags for his daily caffeine fix, especially during his constant travels.

Kenichi Shibata

(COO)
Kenichi Shibata

Kenichi co-founded Venture Republic with Kei in 2001 and currently serves as COO. After the sale of comparison shopping division of VR to Yahoo! Japan in 2013, he also served as CEO of a Yahoo! Japan’s group company. Kenichi received a BA of Spanish Language from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kenichi’s preferred vacation type is taking scenic RV trips.

Venkatraman Dhamodaran

(Co-founder)
Venkatraman Dhamodaran

Venkat is an engineer from India who co-founded Flocations, a Singapore-based start-up for online travellers to search and compare travel packages. When Flocations was acquired by Venture Republic in 2015, it became Trip101, with Venkat at its helm as co-founder.

To unwind, this tech guru practices and teaches yoga.

Shaw Chian

(Co-founder)
Shaw Chian

Shaw Chian, with a background in product development, co-founded Flocations with Venkat. Once Flocations was acquired by Venture Republic, Shaw became the co-founder of Trip101, an English travel content subsidiary of VR.

This doting father of three enjoys running but dreads the thought of doing a marathon.

Good things are meant to be shared!
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