Former head of Facebook Mobile in Asia joins Jungle Ventures as EIR

By Sonam Gulati

  • 15 Mar 2013

Alon Sobol, former head of mobile partnerships (Asia) at Facebook, has joined Singapore-based early-stage VC firm Jungle Ventures as an entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR). As an EIR, Sobol will work on new ideas and also mentor existing Jungle portfolio companies in the digital space.

“Typically an EIR programme is a way for venture capital firms or investors to nurture a big idea and then invest in the new venture at the end of the EIR’s term. At Jungle, we have expanded this programme to bring the wealth of experience with these EIRs to our investee companies,” said Anurag Srivastava, co-founder and managing partner of Jungle Ventures.

At Facebook, Sobol was working with the mobile operators and device manufacturers to grow the social network’s mobile presence in the South-east Asia. Earlier, he had also worked with Toronto-based VC incubator Brightspark.

He was also involved in advising the startups, Viki and Mobikon Technologies, on their mobile and social growth strategies.

Jungle Ventures focuses on early-stage investments in India and the South-east Asia. The fund’s recent investments in the digital sector include Ekstop.com, Mobikon, Travelmob and Sconce Solutions, among others.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)