Why entrepreneur Patrick Grove wants to expand “world’s most exclusive after-party” beyond F1

It’s that time of the year again: the Formula One (F1) Singapore Grand Prix is just around the corner, and over 250,000 motorsport enthusiasts in Singapore and around the globe are gearing up for the only night race on the F1 calendar.

But the excitement isn’t limited to the track. Dubbed “the world’s most exclusive after-party,” Amber Lounge is making its return to Singapore this weekend on September 21 and 22 at the Clifford Pier at The Fullerton Bay Hotel.

Year upon year, its parties have drawn an impressive array of international A-list celebrities, F1 teams and drivers, as well as high-profile and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, from the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to Justin Bieber and David Beckham.

In 2022, serial entrepreneur Patrick Grove took the reins of Amber Lounge—and now, he’s on a mission to redefine luxury nightlife on a global scale by expanding the after-party beyond F1.

Work hard, play hard

Patrick Grove is well known in the Southeast Asian startup scene for his involvement in a string of successful tech businesses.

In 1999, he founded Catcha.com, which has now evolved into Catcha Group—an internet investment firm that focuses on disruptive digital businesses in the region.

He’s taken six companies public over the past 26 years, and his success has earned him a place among Malaysia’s 50 richest individuals, with a net worth of US$335 million in 2024.

It started with iProperty Group in 2007 on the Australian Securities Exchange, followed by a string of IPOs in the 2010s—REV Asia Berhad in 2011 on Bursa Malaysia, iCar Asia in 2012 on the Australian Securities Exchange, Ensogo (formerly iBuy Group) in 2013 on the Australian Securities Exchange, and Frontier Digital Ventures in 2016 on the Australian Securities Exchange. 

But why would a tech mogul dabble in the luxury entertainment industry? When asked about the acquisition, Patrick said, “While I’ve always been a digital entrepreneur, the luxury and hospitality industries have always been a personal passion of mine.”

Nobody had to pitch Amber Lounge to me—I acquired it because I am passionate about it. I personally attend a lot of big sporting events around the world like the Champions League, the Olympics, and the World Cup, but there’s usually no after-party except for F1. It was in Monaco in 2017 that I experienced Amber Lounge for the first time, and I was blown away. 

But I saw the potential for bigger things, and I guess like any entrepreneur, it’s more of where you see a problem that needs to be fulfilled, and you do something about it.

Patrick had already started investing into the business since attending its parties in 2017. When the company’s founder Sonia Irvine (the sister of 1990s Ferrari F1 race driver Eddie Irvine) decided to retire during the pandemic, he seized the opportunity to buy out the remainder of the business.

For Patrick, the problem was clear: the world’s biggest sporting events lacked a consistent, expertly curated after-party experience. The affluent crowd—those who prioritise quality over quantity—has been largely underserved. And he was convinced that Amber Lounge was the answer.

With regular clubs and bars, you enter not really knowing what type of experience and crowd you’re getting yourself into. But with Amber Lounge, you know exactly what you’re going to get. You know it’s going to be exclusive, you’ll meet like-minded people—it’s the trusted after-party brand.

“I have to continuously innovate to differentiate the brand”

Yet, Patrick acknowledges that maintaining exclusivity while scaling is difficult. “Unlike tech startups where rapid scaling can be beneficial, the luxury market relies on curating unique, premium experiences,” said Patrick. 

“For Amber Lounge, I have to continuously innovate to differentiate the brand from other high-end events so that it retains its allure among elite clientele.”

At the same time, the luxury market is also sensitive to economic fluctuations and changes in consumer behaviour, such as the growing importance of sustainability. As such, the entrepreneur has to stay on top of shifting market dynamics and consumer preferences to ensure that the Amber Lounge experience constantly remains relevant.

Another challenge is navigating the logistics and operational complexities that come with hosting large-scale luxury events in various global locations—events like Amber Lounge demand flawless execution, including securing top-tier entertainment, high-end venues, and luxury partners. 

“Managing these intricate details across various cities can be more complicated than managing digital platforms, where scaling operations is often more straightforward,” he explained. 

Still, with a powerhouse team behind him, he’s confident that Amber Lounge can transcend beyond its F1 roots.

The team driving Amber Lounge’s success

When building the team behind Amber Lounge, Patrick drew on key lessons from his previous start-ups. “When I look back at all the ventures that I was involved with that really worked, it was where either myself and the co-founder or the CEO, we would be the number one customer of the product,” he shared in an interview with Boulevard.

“If you’re the number one customer of the product, then you know what to tweak, you know when it’s not working, you know when it’s getting boring, and you know what to do to make it right.”

If you back a venture solely based on its financial prospects without any genuine passion for the product, he said, “you’ll just be dumb money”—you’ll have no real value to add to the business beyond capital.

That’s why, for Amber Lounge, Patrick has carefully curated a C-suite team that, in his view, are “very representative of the brand.”

I brought in Cher Ng, an industry veteran who co-founded Zouk Kuala Lumpur, and Jeannette Tan, an experienced luxury events producer, who are both enhancing Amber Lounge’s global brand by introducing new luxury experiences, such as exclusive yacht cruises and high-end suites at Grand Prix events, making the brand even more appealing to high-net-worth individuals. 

What’s next for Amber Lounge?

Beyond hosting its VIP parties, Amber Lounge has also formed a subsidiary, Amber Concepts, to invest in global F&B concepts and venues.

Though Patrick prefers to keep the details hush-hush, what we know so far is that its first project would be a major club spanning 18,000 sqft in Singapore’s Central Business District, that is slated to open late this year.

The club will be a “multi-concept space, with a VIP club, restaurant and day pool club”, said Amber Lounge CEO Cher Ng in an interview with The Straits Times last December.

Since Patrick’s acquisition of Amber Lounge, the team has taken the exclusive after-party to the Las Vegas F1 as well as the Qatar World Cup.

In the next five years, the entrepreneur hopes to host events at all major F1 races, concerts, and sporting events across the globe.

We want Amber Lounge to be the most exclusive after-party in the world. We believe in creating iconic VIP experiences, and Amber Lounge is the perfect place to do that.

Featured Image Credit: Amber Lounge/ Catcha Group