#FINANCIAL_LITERACY

Grab Holdings Ltd.’s head of technology is leaving the ride-hailing and food-delivery company after seven years to lead a new cryptocurrency gaming venture, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Wui Ngiap Foo, the executive in charge of building up the platform’s mobility-services fleet, is leaving on March 31, said the people, asking not to be identified as the exit hasn’t been publicly announced. Foo, 35, has been a key member of Singapore-based Grab’s leadership team, helping in its combination with Uber Technologies Inc.’s Southeast Asia business in 2018 and later leading its collaboration with Microsoft Corp.

The departure comes as Grab faces intensifying investor scrutiny over its growth prospects and high cash burn. It shares have lost more than half their value since its public debut via a merger with a blank-check company in December, compounded by a sharp market decline and a disappointing earnings report.

Foo has also served as Grab’s head of integrity, overseeing the company’s identity, trust and safety functions. He is set to join crypto gaming startup Ethlas as chief executive officer and co-founder next week, one of the people said. A spokesman for Ethlas declined to comment, while Grab representatives didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

Ethlas is among a slew of new gaming platforms built on the blockchain technology that allow players to accumulate tradeable crypto coins. One of the hottest areas of the cryptocurrency world right now, the space kicked into high gear last year following the rise of play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, where players can collect tokens by selling monsters, winning battles and staking or lending their digital assets.

Nearly 50% of active cryptocurrency wallets connected to decentralised applications in February were for playing games, according to crypto data tracker DappRadar. Players on Ethlas’s platform can choose between a variety of casual games including Candy Crush, Tetris and 2048 to earn virtual money.

The startup, founded in 2021 by Foo, Gennady Medvinsky and Elston Sam, raised US$2.7 million in seed funding last month from investors including Sequoia Capital India, Hustle Fund and Venturra Capital.