DIGITAL MEDIA

Google has lost the head of its South East Asian operations Richard Kimber to social networking up-start Friendster. Kimber, who joined the Australasian operations of Google in 2006 as MD -sales and operations for South East Asia, based in Sydney, will take on the role of CEO for Friendster aiming to take the company through a float and accelerate its presence through Asia. The CEO gig has been left empty for nearly two years, provisionly held by former president Kent Lindstrom, who will now become senior VP of corporate development.

The appointment follows the closure of Friendster’s latest round of funding led by Asian investment specialists IDG Ventures where it raised US$20 million.

The fresh funding will be used for new offices and staff in Asia, leveraging off its core social networking status in markets such as the Philippines and Singapore. Claiming to be Southeast Asia’s top social networking site in terms of traffic and users, Friendster revealed that it had 75 million registered users in June, with more than 55 million of its registered users residing in the Asian-Pacific region. Aside from taking the company through an IPO it is understood that Kimber will also be spearheading a strong acquisition drive for niche Asian social networking sites in addition to investing in its back end infrastructure and ad serving technology.

Prior to joining Google, Kimber was with the HSBC Group serving as CEO of FirstDirect Bank in the UK, and as global head of e-marketing for HSBC and president of HSBC's Internet payment subsidiary. His deep Asian market experience began in 2000 when he was based in Hong Kong as head of e-business Asia-Pacific and also served as an advisor to the government on internet policy.

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