People Roundup: Lamudi, Urban.com.au BrioHR and OLX

It's a turbulent time out there for companies operating real estate marketplace businesses. We've seen job losses at Zillow, Zoopla, Lamudi MX and Boomin (to name a few) but there are some regular comings and goings in the sector as well. Here's a rundown of the big moves from the real estate portal industry over the last month or so...

Lamudi PH

Kenneth Stern, one of just two former agent to become a portal CEO, has quit Lamudi Philippines to become General Manager at blockchain specialist Binance.

Stern announced his departure on Linkedin and joined the Philippines operation Lamudi in 2020 after four years at RE/MAX, succeeding Bhavna Suresh.

Meanwhile, Kian Moini remains at Lamudi. The co-founder and CEO has led the business since the company launched in 2014.

Urban.com.au

Australia’s largest off-the-plan property portal Urban.com.au has announced its Executive General Manager Craig Holmes has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer.

Urban.com.au CEO Mike Bird said that Holmes had been instrumental in Urban’s growth over the last three years.

“We originally brought Craig on to lead the commercial and customer side of the company but his impact has been much broader than that so elevating his role to COO had become a no-brainer.

Holmes said he was excited at the opportunity.

“Urban has an amazing team of talented people that has supported strong growth over the past few years. We’re working in a big market with real opportunities to improve the experience of connecting buyers to new developments”.

Before joining Urban, Holmes had been the COO at agent comparison platform Local Agent Finder after nearly a decade moving up the ranks at the call centre and technology service provider Aegis, where he became Associate Vice President.

Holmes will resume the role effective immediately. Urban recently welcomed CarSales co-founder Steve Kloss to its board, after the marketplace entrepreneur invested $1 million into Urban and its PropTech agency Social Garden, valuing the combined businesses at A$40M.

BrioHR

BrioHR, Southeast Asia's fastest-growing end-to-end HR platform, has appointed Leon Kong as Head of Sales and Client Success.

Kong founded the iProperty Group in 2003 and merged with REA Group in 2015 in a deal worth USD$534m. He has also held positions at Juwai IQI and more recently at the now-defunct Malaysian end-to-end rentals marketplace Instahome.

Kong said:

"I'm thrilled and honoured to be joining [the team]. BrioHR provides exceptional solutions and services that businesses require to improve and simplify their day-to-day HR services. I'm looking forward to creating a client success department that is zealous about nurturing each client's relationship, goals, and ultimate success in business growth."

Benjamin Croc, co-founder and CEO at BrioHR, said:

"Kong is an outstanding addition to our team, as he brings a deep blend of sales experience and the skill set to deliver client success," said Benjamin Croc, Co-founder and CEO of BrioHR.

"As BrioHR continues its rapid growth and focuses across Southeast Asia, Kong’s sales leadership and his strong background in building top-performing sales teams will accelerate our growth. We are thrilled to have him onboard!"

OLX

Chris Sherwood is leaving his role as head of policy at OLX Group after nine and a half years.

In a post published on Linkedin, Sherwood said:

"I’m deeply grateful for the nine and a half years I was with the Naspers/Prosus group, as I now prepare for a new professional adventure."

Sherwood joined South African multi-national Naspers in 2016 as head of public policy before moving to subsidiary Prosus the following year.