Asset Manager

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Tune Labs

Tune Labs is a venture capital vehicle focused on the travel, finance, and retail sectors. It leverages the Tune Group's network and experience to support...

Tune Labs

Tune Labs is a venture capital vehicle focused on the travel, finance, and retail sectors. It leverages the Tune Group's network and experience to support start-ups from idea validation to commercialization. The firm runs two programs: a 12-week Incubator and an Accelerator, and has made three investments.

General information

Firm type

Generalist

Year founded

2015

Location

Region

Asia

Country

Malaysia

City

Kuala Lumpur

Corporate office

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Principals

Tony Fernandes

Founder

Kamarudin Meranun

Founder

Lim Kian Onn

Founder

Arun Verma

Managing Partner

Gareth Lim

Co-Managing Partner

Sector focus

Hospitality & TravelMedia & EntertainmentEnterprise Software

Frequently asked questions

Who controls investment decisions at Tune Labs?

Managing Partner Arun Verma and Co-Managing Partner Gareth Lim oversee day-to-day investment activities. Founders Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun, and Lim Kian Onn retain ultimate authority as the capital backers. The firm operates without a disclosed investment committee structure, typical of principal investment arms where founders approve allocations directly.

How does Tune Labs source deals?

Deal flow likely channels through the founders' extensive Southeast Asian networks — AirAsia's regional relationships, Tune Group's operating companies, and the hospitality connections of Ormond Group's Gareth Lim. The firm has not publicly disclosed a formal sourcing program or accelerator partnerships, suggesting a relationship-driven, opportunistic approach rather than an open-application pipeline.

Is Tune Labs a venture capital fund?

No. Tune Labs operates as a principal investment arm, deploying its founders' capital directly rather than managing third-party LP commitments. It does not publicly market a fund vehicle or report a fund size. The portfolio mixes venture-stage equity with operating assets like Tune Hotels and Queens Park Rangers, a structure closer to a holding company than a venture fund.

What is the relationship between Tune Labs and Tune Group?

Tune Labs functions as the investment entity within the broader Tune Group ecosystem, which encompasses the founders' branded ventures in aviation (AirAsia), hospitality (Tune Hotels), telecommunications (Tune Talk), and financial services (Tune Money). Gareth Lim's dual role — Co-Managing Partner at Tune Labs and CEO of Ormond Group, which runs Tune Hotels — illustrates the overlapping operational and investment mandates across the structure.

Does Tune Labs co-invest with external partners?

The firm has not publicly disclosed a co-investment policy. Its principal-capital structure gives it flexibility to invest alongside external GPs or syndicates, but no specific co-investment partnerships have been confirmed. Allocators evaluating the firm should assume deal decisions are driven by founder preferences rather than institutional co-investor frameworks.

Where does Tune Labs' investment capital originate?

The capital traces primarily to the founders' stakes in AirAsia, which Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun acquired in 2001 and built into Asia's largest low-cost carrier. Additional wealth derives from Lim Kian Onn's ECM Libra financial services group and the wider Tune Group operating profits across hospitality and telecoms. The firm does not disclose its total invested capital or annual deployment pace.

Does Tune Labs have philanthropic or impact-investing mandates?

The founders maintain separate philanthropic vehicles: the AirAsia Foundation supports social enterprises across ASEAN, while the ECM Libra Foundation funds education initiatives including Epsom College in Malaysia, a British-style boarding school. Tune Labs itself has not publicly claimed an impact mandate, and the investment entity appears commercially driven, with philanthropic activities walled off in the foundations.

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