Forrest Didier – CEO, Apsara Ventures

 Forrest Didier is CEO of Apsara Ventures LLC, a global venture company with investment and development focus in the digital/mobile world of media, adtech, martech, research, gaming, online travel and information services.  Headquartered in Seattle, Apsara works with ventures to raise capital, develop and implement growth, turnaround and exit strategies and identify/negotiate opportunities to drive global expansion and strategic partnerships. He is also a Board Member for Lucerne, Switzerland-based International Conference for Online Media Measurement (I-COM), the Global Forum for Marketing Data and Measurement.

Mr. Didier is a pioneer in online information, adtech and martech services, driving the launch of first-ever internet measurement services in Asia. He has over 25 years of global experience in marketing, media and internet information services in a variety of senior roles in M&A, Strategic Planning and Regional Leadership.  As Chairman and interim CEO of Statsit Pte. Ltd., a leading social media intelligence company headquartered in Singapore, he led the delivery of innovative social media brand insights. As MD, Nielsen Media Research – Asia Pacific, he led all aspects of operations across 12 countries and 750 employees, grew the business to over $70M and tripled profitability in four years.  As President, NetRatings – Asia Pacific Latin America, he drove a turnaround which delivered the first profitability for the region and was a company officer and leader in the sale of the company to private equity at a valuation of over $800 million.  Mr. Didier also has completed more than 20 M&A deals on six continents and helped drive expansion of Nielsen’s business from 30 to over 100 countries.

Mr. Didier led the development and introduction of innovative new media, internet research and social media services across the Asia Pacific region and worked with media owners, agencies and brands to provide the information, analytics and insights to help them increase the return on their advertising and marketing investments. He led the launch of first-ever internet services in China, securing key approvals from China’s MII, and established NetRatings as the internet services leader in the APAC region.

Mr. Didier is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in Mathematics.  He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

For more information, contact Mr. Didier at fdidier@apsaraventures.com.