Page 41 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

JENNIFER WAI-FUN LIU, 45
Founder and Chairwoman, The Coffee Academïcs
HONG KONG

The founder of The Coffee Academïcs is on a roll. In the
seven years since founding her coffee chain, Liu has
opened 20 outlets in four cities in Asia and will open three
more in Bangkok, Manila and Shenzhen by year-end. Last
month, she signed an agreement with a China partner to
open 50 outlets in and around Guangzhou in the next five
years. Talks are also underway with potential partners in
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and the UAE. Liu
is a serial entrepreneur who sold a property website and
has been running café chain Habitu Group before setting
up The Coffee Academïcs in 2012. Last year, Liu also started
online catering platform Caterierge, whose clients include
Google, LinkedIn and UBS. She is also vice chairman for her
family’s property investment firm, Gale Well Group, led by
her billionaire mother Rita Liu Tong. —Rana Wehbe

JENNY ZHANG

CEO, Huazhu Group
CHINA
LIU: ANTHONY KWAN/BLOOMBERG, WIBOWO: AHMAD ZAMRONI/HKV/FORBES INDONESIA, ZHANG: COURTESY OF HUAZHU GROUP

Zhang has been push-
ing Huazhu, which was
founded in 2005 as a
budget hotel chain, into
more upscale territory with
the acquisition in the past
two years of two Chinese-
themed boutique hotels
and the launch in 2017 of
CitiGo, which targets mil-
lennials. A veteran finan-
cier with a Harvard M.B.A.,
TERESA WIBOWO, 37 Zhang joined Nasdaq-list-
Chief, Ruparupa.com ed Huazhu in 2008 as chief
INDONESIA financial officer and served
in various senior executive
Wibowo has two words for aspiring young businesswomen yearning positions before becom-
to break through glass ceilings: “Aim high.” Coworkers know Wi- ing CEO in 2015. Huazhu
bowo as the “chief of many things” at Ruparupa, an online retailer of now operates 4,000 hotels
home and living products, a play on the Indonesian word rupa-rupa, across 18 brands, including
which means “many various things.” Ruparupa is an important digi- five franchised from Accor,
tal initiative for her family’s Kawan Lama group, a 60-year-old col- its French partner, since
lection of companies controlled by her father Kuncoro Wibowo. The 2014. A markdown of its
group is one of the country’s largest retailers in categories such as Accor investment last year
furniture, toys and hardware supplies. Among its outlets, the group led a 42% decline in net
operates the world’s largest Ace Hardware store by size, at about profit, to 716 million yuan
15,000 square meters, opened in 2016. The same year, she helped ($100 million). Revenue,
launch Ruparupa, which was meant to transform the group’s focus however, climbed 22% to 10 billion yuan as the company attracted
from brick-and-mortar retail to include e-commerce. Her success in independent hotel operators with its more flexible standards on
this role is critical as Kawan Lama is facing increasing pressure from room designs and its online booking platform, which boasts 130 mil-
online rivals such as Tokopedia and JD.com. —Joe Cochrane lion members. —Jane Ho

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