Allen Lau

Allen Lau is a Hong Kong-born Canadian entrepreneur who is the co-founder and former CEO of Wattpad.[1][2][3]

Biography

Lau was born in Hong Kong, and at age 19, he immigrated to Canada where he attended St. Robert Catholic High School and the University of Toronto.[4] There, he earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1991, followed by a master's in electrical engineering in 1992.[5][6]

After graduating, Lau got a job as a software developer at IBM, but did not like working at such a big company. In 1993, he moved on to Toronto-based software start-up Delrina. A few years later, he joined Brightspark, a Toronto-based venture capital incubator founded by the same entrepreneurs who started Delrina. It was at Brightspark that Lau started his first company, Tira Wireless, which published games for mobile phones. Lau says that that was where he got the idea for Wattpad.[7] Wattpad, which Lau founded in 2006, is an online platform that allows writers to share their writing with the online Wattpad community.[8][9] Lau is a prominent member of the Canadian entrepreneurship community; in 2014, he and his wife founded Two Fish Ventures, a venture firm that invests in internet-based startups in the Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo regions.[10] In 2021, Wattpad announced that it was being acquired by South Korean conglomerate Naver, for US$600 million; Wattpad is planning on continuing to run independently with Lau maintaining his leadership position.[11][12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Wattpad's Allen Lau, a pioneer of Canada's tech renaissance, steps aside as CEO a year after sale to South Korean giant". May 9, 2022 – via www.theglobeandmail.com.
  2. ^ Bickis, Ian (December 9, 2019). "Storytelling platform Wattpad to open office in Halifax". Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "The Leader: Allen Lau, Wattpad". thestar.com. 2015-08-16. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  4. ^ Agrba, Liza (December 13, 2022). "How Wattpad Co-founder Allen Lau Built a $750-Million Business".
  5. ^ "'A match made in heaven': Allen Lau on Naver's US$600-million acquisition of Wattpad". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  6. ^ "The content 'factory': How U of T alumnus Allen Lau is disrupting the way books, movies and TV shows are made". U of T Engineering News. 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  7. ^ Agrba, Liza (2022-12-13). "How Wattpad Co-founder Allen Lau Built a $750-Million Business". Canadian Business – How to Do Business Better. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  8. ^ "The Wattpad Cult: why Toronto's buzziest tech start-up is a self-publishing app beloved by teen girls". Toronto Life. 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  9. ^ "The six hottest players in Toronto's digital industry". Toronto Life. 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  10. ^ "Two Small Fish Ventures closes $9 million for second fund | BetaKit". 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  11. ^ "Wattpad, the storytelling platform, is selling to South Korea's Naver for $600 million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  12. ^ "Following Wattpad acquisition, CEO Allen Lau says "I'm not done yet" | BetaKit". 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  13. ^ "Wattpad to be sold to South Korean internet giant for $600M US". January 19, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.


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