Animoca Brands poaches Tencent Insurance arm’s CEO Alan Lau

Tencent’s insurance business WeSure chief executive officer Alan Lau has officially joined Hong Kong-based blockchain and game venture Animoca Brands as chief business officer, Lau’s LinkedIn page showed on Tuesday.

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Fast facts

• Lau will be responsible for managing all of Animoca Brands’ portfolio companies, leading acquisitions and mergers, and external partnerships, Chinese media reported on Monday.

• Lau’s last day at Tencent was on July 15, the report said. Lau first joined Tencent in 2016 after spending more than 19 years with McKinsey & Co., rising to the level of a senior partner. 

• At Tencent, Lau was responsible for the business side of internet insurance, including building up the team, applying for licenses and expanding the business overseas. 

• Animoca Brands has raised a total of US$675.3 million in funding over 19 rounds, according to Crunchbase data. Its latest raise of US$75 million valued the company at US$5.9 billion.

See related article: Animoca Brands ups valuation to US$5.9B despite slumping markets