Cleartrip Ropes In Jae Hyung Kim As President & Head Of Biz Development

Online travel agency Cleartrip has appointed Jae Hyung Kim as president and head of business development. In his new role, he will lead Cleartrip's corporate strategy, finance, M&A and overall business development.

Prior to joining Cleartrip, he was working with JP Morgan in the US and Asia Pacific for 13 years focused on Technology and Mergers & Acquisitions. Most recently he was the Co-Head of Asia Technology Investment Banking. Kim graduated from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Mathematics, and a minor in Political Science.

His appointment is interesting as it means Cleartrip may also be looking at some inorganic expansion to scale up its business. Its key rival in India MakeMyTrip has been snapping up firms in India and abroad.

Cleartrip is one among the bunch of online travel firms in India, along with Makemytrip.com and Yatra.com. Founded in 2006, it is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures, DAG Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The company now has 350 employees across its three offices – located in Bangalore, Mumbai and Gurgaon. Cleartrip has two on-going relationships with Expedia.

The new appointment comes at a time when the firm is still locked in a court case, facing allegations of data theft made by the online travel agency Travelocity against the Cleartrip management.