Roblox has appointed Malaysian entrepreneur Joel Neoh as managing director for Southeast Asia and Oceania, placing the entrepreneur behind GroupsMore and Fave in charge of its regional business. He will lead regional strategy, strengthen partnerships and help local developers and creators grow their businesses.
Before this new chapter at Roblox, Neoh had already built a career spanning digital media, e-commerce, payments and consumer health. He co-founded Fave, which was acquired in a deal valued at more than US$45 million.
But long before the acquisitions and regional leadership roles, he was an engineering graduate trying to convince his family that entrepreneurship was more than a hobby.
Let’s take a closer look at Joel Neoh’s inspiring journey.
Chapters Before Roblox
Neoh studied mechanical engineering at Monash University, but his ambitions eventually took him beyond engineering. While his classmates moved into jobs with steady salaries, he chose to explore building his own business.
Coming from a family made up largely of civil servants, that decision was not easy to explain. In a 2023 interview, he recalled the questions he faced at home.
“When I came home each day, my parents would ask me what I was doing and when I would stop this hobby. It was tough.”
Watching his peers establish their careers added to his uncertainty.
“There was a lot of insecurity in the early years as I graduated as a mechanical engineer. All my classmates went on to become engineers with good salaries.”
Still, he enjoyed the freedom to create something of his own. As his ventures developed, seeing the impact of his work gave him further reason to continue.
In 2007, Neoh won The Firm, Malaysia’s first corporate reality television programme. He was also the youngest of its 10 contestants, gaining public attention before the businesses that would establish his name in technology.
His early ventures included SAYS.com and GroupsMore, which tapped into the internet’s growing influence on how people discovered information and spent money.
GroupsMore became part of Groupon in 2011, while SAYS merged with Catcha Media in 2013. Neoh subsequently held regional leadership positions at Groupon, eventually overseeing its Asia Pacific business.
His work had grown from building Malaysian startups to managing businesses across multiple markets. A few years later, his next venture would bring him back to familiar territory.
The Fitness Business That Became Fave
In 2015, Neoh and fellow entrepreneur Yeoh Chen Chow started KFit, a platform focused on access to fitness activities. The business later expanded into local commerce through Fave.
Then came an unusual turn in his entrepreneurial journey.
During 2016 and 2017, the business acquired Groupon’s operations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Neoh had gone from helping lead Groupon’s regional business to acquiring parts of it through a new venture.
Fave continued evolving, adding digital payments and merchant loyalty services. Customers could pay participating businesses and receive cashback rewards, while merchants gained another way to encourage repeat visits.
In April 2021, Pine Labs acquired Fave in a deal valued at more than US$45 million. It was a major milestone for a business that had started with fitness subscriptions six years earlier.
The platform continued growing after the acquisition. In July 2024, Pine Labs reported that Fave had helped businesses process over US$1 billion in transactions since 2016. This measures payment activity handled through its services, rather than company revenue.
The Values Behind His Business Decisions
For Neoh, building a company also means investing in its people. In the same 2023 interview, he explained the importance he places on employees and workplace culture.
“I value people as much as business in every company I’m involved in.”
After stepping down as Fave CEO in March 2023, Neoh wanted to help other entrepreneurs take their first steps.
The same year, he joined Hong Kong-based Prenetics, taking on leadership of its consumer health business, CircleDNA. Then, he launched First Move, an early-stage fund backing consumer-focused startups across Southeast Asia.
His advice to aspiring founders was practical. Before pursuing an idea, he encouraged them to consider the size of the market, how quickly they could launch, the resources required and how long it would take to become profitable.
Helping A New Generation Build On Roblox
At Roblox, Neoh’s experience will now support developers and studios looking to turn their creations into businesses. His responsibilities include strengthening partnerships, supporting the creator community and building familiarity and trust among players and parents.
He has said his first priority is to listen, understand the regional ecosystem and build relationships with the people shaping it.
That means engaging developers, creators, educators, policymakers and brands. His ambition is for Southeast Asia to become a source of successful creations on Roblox, giving local talent more opportunities to reach international audiences.
Having built companies, navigated acquisitions and invested in other founders, Neoh now takes on a role supporting a different generation of entrepreneurs.
His next chapter at Roblox will involve helping creators across Southeast Asia and Oceania turn their own ideas into experiences, communities and businesses.
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