Prosus, one of the largest technology investors in the world, today announced Romain Voog as CEO of OLX Group. Serving 300 million monthly users in more than 30 countries across five continents, OLX Group is a global classifieds business operating 20+ consumer brands built by a global workforce of 10,000.
Voog joins OLX Group from Airbnb, where he was VP for Worldwide Sales Operations and Geographies.
The company said his deep global consumer internet experience is bolstered by previous leadership roles including CEO for Global Fashion Group, and president of Amazon France.
Voog started his career in consulting at Bain and then BCG, and holds an MSc from Ecole Centrale Paris.
He has lived and worked in Singapore, San Francisco, Australia and France, and will
relocate to Amsterdam later in 2021.
“With its leading brands, innovative platforms, entrepreneurial teams, and the backing of one of the world’s top consumer internet groups, I believe OLX Group is uniquely positioned to benefit from the massive and growing online trade opportunities and shift in consumer habits,” said Voog.
He takes over from Martin Scheepbouwer, who is retiring from corporate life.
Over the past nine years, Scheepbouwer led the transformation of Prosus’s classifieds portfolio from a set of early-stage, autonomous investments, into OLX Group, an operating company with revenues of $1.5 billion and a portfolio of profitable and growth-oriented classifieds brands across the world.
OLX Group’s strategic focus has evolved to three core areas:
- building multi-vertical ecosystems (goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services) in key markets including Russia, Europe, and Brazil;
- reinventing the way cars are bought and sold, combining online and offline services to bring convenience and trust to car trade in India, Indonesia, Latin America and the United States.
- OLX Autos operates over 500 offline inspection centres that inspect 300,000 vehicles and enable 130,000 transactions a year, offering customers a one-stop-shop and peace of mind; and
- operational investments into strategically attractive classifieds markets – e.g. goods and cars in Turkey (letgo), real estate in South Africa (Property24), goods in the United States (Offerup), property in the Middle East (EMPG), and several others.
“I’m delighted that Romain joins us today to lead the next chapter for OLX Group. His rich internet experience combined with his customer-first focus is the perfect combination as we continue to transform the classifieds category for buyers and sellers across the world,” Bob van Dijk, CEO, Prosus, said.
“Martin and the team have built OLX Group into a vibrant and valuable business, serving more than 300 million users every month. I’d like to thank Martin for his superb contribution to the group over the past nine years and for handing over a global business in great shape for the future.”
