TheAsianparent taps former Mumbrella exec to lead offline events push

Southeast Asian parenting community and content platform theAsianparent announced plans to scale up its offline offerings, naming former Mumbrella exec Dean Carroll to serve as its events and intellectual property division head in the region.

TheAsianparent’s events and intellectual property division head Dean Carroll / Photo credit: TheAsianparent

Carroll has been in the media industry for close to two decades, bearing experience in journalism, brand building, and conference curation. In his new position, he will be leading theAsianparent’s initiative to diversify its business into experiential marketing and offline spaces.

Prior to the appointment, Carroll served as the general manager of Mumbrella Asia, which closed down late last year after failing to reach profitability after six and a half years of operation. During his time there, Caroll helped launch its flagship Mumbrella360 Asia conference and Mumbrella Travel and Finance Marketing summits.

TheAsianparent already has an existing footprint in the events market, putting on experiential activations for clients and holding its signature Baby Bashes and Chief Household Officer Mums conferences. Moving forward, the startup plans to hold more business-to-consumer and business-to-business events on a larger scale, alongside a new awards series.

“With Dean, we hope to build greater offline presence with our community and provide them with what they need to have healthy pregnancies and families, while simultaneously giving our clients and partners the opportunity to reach greater audiences and forge stronger brand connections with parents and their families,” said theAsianparent CEO Susana Tsui.

The company started off in 2008 as a parenting blog. Since then, it has transformed into a social network that serves as an information resource for parents in the region.

In addition to ramping up its offline offerings, the startup also recently said it was expanding into commerce. In November last year, theAsianparent said it closed a seven-figure series C2 round from the Mirae Asset-Naver New Growth Fund to fuel its diversification strategy, which includes creating its own direct-to-consumer line of baby and maternity products.

It also raised an eight-figure sum in an oversubscribed series C round led by Chinese international conglomerate and investment company Fosun to expand to more markets in Asia and Africa and to speed up the development of its community-driven app.

The Singapore-based company is active in 12 markets, including Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, India, Taiwan, Japan, and Nigeria.