Zen Rooms co-founder Kiren Tanna steps down

Kiren Tanna, co-founder and global managing director at Zen Rooms, has announced his resignation from the budget hotel startup after four and a half years since its founding.

Zen Rooms co-founder Kiren Tanna / Photo credit: Zen Rooms

In a LinkedIn post this week, Tanna said that the “timing is perfect, with the transaction with Yanolja earlier this year which saw them becoming our biggest shareholder, Zen has very strong backers and partners.”

Zen Rooms co-founder Nathan Boublil will take over as CEO, while Yanolja’s Sean Sangjin Lee, who has been a board member at Zen Rooms since 2018, will work as the company’s chief strategy officer, according to Tanna.

The announcement came after South Korean hotel booking platform Yanolja announced in October 2019 that it has further invested in Zen Rooms, following an earlier US$15 million injection into the budget hotel operator. Yanolja has an option of wholly acquiring Zen Rooms in the future.

“Personally, I plan to take a bit of a break before my next adventure but will continue to work closely with the startup community here,” Tanna wrote. “I am advising a few founding teams and completing a few angel investments and looking forward to connect with and support more great entrepreneurs.”

Commenting on Tanna’s announcement, Zen Rooms told Tech in Asia in an email statement that the company plans to continue working toward its long-term mission and leverage on Yanolja’s backing to take the business to the next level.

“We wish to thank Kiren for his service and wish him the best for his future endeavors!” the company said.

Founded in 2015, Singapore-based Zen Rooms aims to improve the state of budget hospitality in Southeast Asia, making travel more affordable and safer. It’s up against India’s Oyo in the region, which is raising US$1.5 billion for its series F funding round.