Wongnai founder Yod to head up Line Man merger

Yod Chinsupakul, chief executive and co-founder of restaurant review platform Wongnai, has been chosen to lead Line Man Wongnai, formed through the merger of his company and delivery app Line Man, says Japan-based Line Corp.

The appointment of Mr Yod as the chief executive of Line Man Wongnai will take effect next month.

Late last month, Line Man announced it would merge with Wongnai while receiving a fresh capital investment worth 3.3 billion baht from BRV Capital Management, an affiliated entity of BlueRun Ventures, a US-based venture capital firm. The merger is expected to stoke competition among online food ordering platforms.

“Yod Chinsupakul is an expert who has an extensive understanding of the online-to-offline [O2O] business, especially food delivery,” said Eunjung Lee, head of global business for Southeast Asia at Line Plus Corp, the South Korean subsidiary of Line Corp. “Line Man Wongnai, under Yod’s expertise, will be a company developed and run by Thais, creating new, exciting offers that will benefit everyone.”

Mr Yod said the combination of the two companies will foster “a unique and seamless O2O system for both restaurants and users”.

The new entity will develop value for all stakeholders, he said.

“Line Man Wongnai is being founded and managed by Thai founders. Our food is local and we are local. We are confident this is a special and exciting new venture that will benefit the Thai people and Thai businesses alike,” said Mr Yod.

Wongnai has more than 10 million users each month and holds the largest restaurant database in Thailand, with over 400,000 restaurants nationwide.

Line Man, which has operated in the Thai market since 2016 under Line Thailand, offers six services: food delivery, groceries, convenience store items and parcels, plus messenger and taxi hailing services.