AMIT Saberwal went through many a sleepless night when he first began pitching the idea that became South-East Asia’s top online budget-hotels service, RedDoorz.

Few financiers paid attention back then to a middle-aged former hotel sales executive. His vision of quality US$20-a-night rooms seemed impractical for a largely neglected market. And rival outfits run by younger founders, like Rocket Internet-backed Zen Rooms, hogged the spotlight. It took about six months before he finally scored a modest US$540,000 (RM2.3mil) from his first backer, Singapore-based Jungle Ventures Pte.