From an early age, it was easy to see that Christian Mischler would grow up to be a leader. As a child, he headed his boy scout troop. As a teen, he started his first business. As a young adult, he climbed the ranks of the Swiss army to become a Captain before staking his claim in the business world. But it was his passion for travel that would lead him to co-found Asia-Pacific’s leading last-minute hotel booking app, HotelQuickly.   Growing up in the postcard-worthy town of Hinwil, Switzerland, Christian enjoyed spending time being active outdoors. While the budding entrepreneur was bright, studying was not a particular interest during his adolescence. After a challenging, yet rewarding career in the military where he developed his leadership talents, Christian was inspired to take his education to the next level. He went on to prepare for entrepreneurial life at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), one of Europe’s top business schools. While he earned his undergraduate degree, he founded his second company, a study aid startup called KKarten that would eventually merge with Uniseminar to become the largest publishing house in Switzerland’s educational sector. He continued his postgraduate education in St. Gallen, obtaining a double master’s degree in Banking & Finance, and International Management.   Upon completing his formal education, Christian honed in his business skills at Credit Suisse’s Corporate Development department before Rocket Internet approached him with an exciting opportunity to become Co-Founder and Managing Director of their latest project, foodpanda. Christian accepted the position and flew to Thailand where he was quickly promoted to foodpanda’s CTO and COO, splitting his time between Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Portugal, and Colombia.   Spending copious amounts of nights in hotels, Christian took notice of the growing global interest in last-minute hotel booking, and the technology supporting the trend. He and another Rocket Internet colleague began structuring a company to support the needs of last-minute travellers in Asia-Pacific. In 2012, he tapped former classmate Tomas Laboutka to become the fledgling company’s CEO, Raphael Cohen for CSO, and Michal Juhas for CTO. In 2013, Christian gave his official notice at foodpanda, now one of the world’s largest food delivery services, and dedicated his full attention to HotelQuickly as Co-Founder and COO.   Since HotelQuickly’s official launch in March 2013, Christian has helped successfully secure two rounds of fundraising from leading global investors, totalling 5.56m USD. Christian’s achievements gained the attention of his alma mater, and the Bangkok resident was nominated “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the University of St.Gallen in 2013.   Today, Christian calls both Australia and Thailand home, hopping between the two to manage HotelQuickly’s operations. In his fleeting free time, Christian can be found enjoying sports like paragliding, scuba diving, and hiking, capturing the moments with his GoPro. For more information on Christian or the HotelQuickly app, visit www.hotelquickly.com.