Nominations open for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2024 awards

Nominations for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ (EOY) awards in Singapore are now open until 5 April 2024.

SINGAPORE, 8 MARCH 2024. Nominations for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ (EOY) awards in Singapore are now open until 5 April 2024. This is the 23rd edition of the awards, which began in 2002 to coincide with the government’s focus on entrepreneurship.

The theme for the awards this year is “The Art of Entrepreneurship”, celebrating entrepreneurs who continuously repaint and reframe our economy from innovative new angles through their passionate work and commitment. The public and business community are encouraged to nominate outstanding entrepreneurs for the award at www.ey.com/sg/eoy.

Mr. Liew Nam Soon, Singapore Country Managing Partner and EY Asean Regional Managing Partner, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP, says:

“This year's awards theme honors entrepreneurs who, like artists, blend passion, determination, character and skill to create businesses that tackle complex challenges and contribute to a better working world. We are seeking nominations for local entrepreneurs who demonstrate an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit and sense of purpose, matched with strong business growth and impact on stakeholders, to build resilient companies that make a mark on our economy.”

To be a nominee, the candidate must be an owner-manager primarily responsible for the recent performance of a privately held Singapore-based company that is at least two years old; or a founder of a listed Singapore-based company who is still active in senior management.

The nominees will be assessed by an independent judging panel across the four globally benchmarked criteria of entrepreneurial spirit, growth, purpose and impact (see fact sheet A).

Entrepreneurs who excel across the four criteria will be honored as winners of award titles that are designed to reflect their unique qualities or achievements. The individual who ranks the highest across all four criteria will be selected as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Singapore to represent the country at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year (WEOY) award next year.

Come June 2024, last year’s EOY Singapore winner, Ms. Yvon Bock, Founder and CEO of Hegen, will be Singapore’s representative at the global award to compete with winners from 47 countries and territories.

On representing Singapore at the WEOY, Ms. Bock says:

“Representing Singapore to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year award is a profound honor. The world award is more than a culmination; it dares me to dream, to manifest, and to become the narrative that I tell myself. I’m excited to make the most of this opportunity to showcase the Singapore brand globally and share the transformative impact Hegen aims to have on 100 million mothers around the world.”

Ms. Bock was selected among four other EOY category winners last year, of which the entire class were women entrepreneurs:

• EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – Advanced Manufacturing 
  Ms. Phyllis Ong, Group CEO, Armstrong Industrial Corporation Limited
  
• EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – New Media and Entertainment
  Ms. Althea Lim, Cofounder and Group CEO, Gushcloud International
  
• EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – Consumer Products
  Ms. Yvon Bock, Founder and CEO, Hegen Pte Ltd
  
• EY Entrepreneur Of The Year – E-commerce Services
  Ms. Olive Tai, Cofounder and Managing Director, Synagie Group Asia and Europe

Bank of Singapore joins as platinum sponsor of the EOY awards

This year, the EOY awards program welcomes Bank of Singapore, the wholly owned private banking subsidiary of OCBC, as the platinum sponsor of the EOY awards.

Bank of Singapore CEO, Mr. Jason Moo, says:
“Bank of Singapore is pleased to be the platinum sponsor of the EY EOY awards in Singapore. Entrepreneurs are an important driving force of the economy, and many of them have pioneered innovations that have significant social and economic impact. We are proud to partner EY to celebrate these entrepreneurs’ tenacity and perseverance in building and sustaining successful businesses.”

The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) continues as a partner of the EOY awards for the fifth year.

Mr. Pol de Win, Head of Global Sales and Origination, SGX Group, says:

“In an era marked by rapidly shifting macroeconomic and business landscapes, Singapore entrepreneurs are navigating through unprecedented challenges. These challenges demand not just resilience but innovation. Through programs like the EY Entrepreneur Of
The Year Award, now into its fifth year of sponsorship by the SGX Group, we continue to shine a spotlight on the remarkable achievements of our homegrown champions. We eagerly anticipate the unveiling of this year’s nominees, each of whom displays the spirit of creativity and perseverance that will shape the future of our economy.”

The official media partners of the EY EOY awards are The Business Times, The Edge Singapore and Portfolio magazine. The supporters are Action Community for Entrepreneurship; Enterprise Singapore; Singapore Business Federation; and SkillsFuture Singapore.

Two other awards presented on board the EOY program

The EY organization will be conferring two other honorary awards for family enterprise excellence and Asean entrepreneurial excellence. Bank of Singapore will also be the presenting title sponsor for the two awards, namely the EY-Bank of Singapore Family Enterprise Award of Excellence and the EY-Bank of Singapore Asean Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.

The award recipient for the EY-Bank of Singapore Family Enterprise Award of Excellence will be selected based on the family enterprise’s ability to successfully balance business and family issues, grow the business and show responsibility for others through philanthropic or social engagements (see fact sheet B for eligibility and judging criteria).

Knowledge Partners, Business Families Institute @ Singapore Management University (BFI @ SMU) and the INSEAD Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise will select the winner.

The EY-Bank of Singapore Asean Entrepreneurial Excellence Award recognizes successful Southeast Asian businesses that contribute to the economy and community in the region (see fact sheet C). Recipients of the two honorary awards do not compete for the EY EOY Singapore 2024 title.

For more information on the EOY awards, visit www.ey.com/sg/eoy. 

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Notes to editors

About EY

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This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young Solutions LLP, a member of the global EY organization.

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. Winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. ey.com/eoy

About Bank of Singapore

Bank of Singapore is the private banking subsidiary of OCBC, backed by OCBC’s strong credit ratings of Aa1 by Moody’s and AA- by Fitch and S&P. Its open-architecture product platform and strong research capabilities provide clients with world class private banking and wealth planning solutions.

With three hubs in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, Bank of Singapore serves high net worth individuals and wealthy families across Southeast Asia, Greater China, Middle East, Europe and other international markets.

Bank of Singapore was named Best Overall Asia Private Bank by WealthBriefing Asia and World’s Best for ESG Investing by Euromoney in 2023.

About Singapore Exchange (SGX Group)

SGX Group seeks to serve as the world’s most trusted and efficient international marketplace, operating equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets to the highest regulatory standards. As one ecosystem with global relevance and influence, we offer multiple growth avenues to our stakeholders through listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository, data and index services. We are committed to lead on climate action by developing a world-class transition financing and trading hub through SGX FIRST (Future in Reshaping Sustainability Together), our multi-asset sustainability platform. Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, we are globally recognized for our risk-management and clearing capabilities. Find out more at www.sgxgroup.com.

Fact sheet A: Nomination and judging criteria

Nomination criteria:

To be a nominee, the candidate must be:

• An owner-manager primarily responsible for the recent performance of a privately held Singapore-based company that is at least two years old, or
• A founder of a listed Singapore-based company who is still active in senior management.

Judging criteria:

The following four judging criteria sets the global standard adhered to by each and every country participating in the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year awards.

Entrepreneurial spirit

• Identifies opportunities to innovate and create a better world.
• Takes risks to realize their vision.
• Demonstrates courage, perseverance and resilience to overcome significant obstacles.

Growth

• Increases market share and expands into new markets.
• Drives positive financial performance.
• Invests in attracting, developing and retaining a diverse mix of talent.
• Builds a culture of innovation that pioneers new approaches or technologies.

Purpose

• Commits themselves and their organization to an inspiring purpose and vision.
• Drives strategies for a sustainable future business.
• Creates and protects value in the long term, across a broad group of stakeholders, including consumers, employees, suppliers, government, communities, investors and shareholders.

Impact

• Positively impacts the customers they serve.
• Integrates sustainable Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices in their strategy, with robust commitments and execution plans.
• Focuses on diversity and inclusion across multiple dimensions.

Fact sheet B: EY-Bank of Singapore Family Enterprise Award of Excellence

The Family Enterprise Award of Excellence was launched in 2013 to recognize family enterprises that have made significant socioeconomic contributions and demonstrated the ability to harmonize between business and family matters. It is jointly selected by knowledge partners, Business Families Institute @ Singapore Management University and the INSEAD Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise.

Family enterprises that have been honored include Ho Bee Land, Goldbell Group, Hong Leong Group, Far East Organization, Sing Lun Holdings Pte Ltd, Tolaram Group, Jebsen & Jessen (SEA), Eu Yan Sang International, B.P. de Silva Holdings, and the Kewalram Chanrai Group.

Eligibility:

• Leadership of the company includes family member(s) from second or subsequent generations, or has multiple branches of a family involved in leadership (i.e., one individual and first generation would not qualify for the award).
• The family still has a significant ownership and voting stake and is primarily responsible for setting the strategic direction and values for the firm.
• The legal form of the company or group of companies is not relevant.
• Companies may be private or publicly traded.
• If the shares and voting rights have been transferred to a trust, it will remain to be considered as family enterprise if the family has dominant influence on the trust in a way described above.
• The business or headquarter of the business is located in Singapore.

Judging criteria:

• Companies shows evidence of a successful, sustainable and long term-oriented strategy.
• Company has adopted an effective and transparent corporate governance approach, enabling the execution of the desired strategy and living out of family values.
• Company governance enables unity among the family ownership (i.e., little evidence of significant family disputes impacting the business).
• Demonstrated the ability of the family to preserve company culture, tradition and values and maintained the entrepreneurial spirit and continued innovation over generations.
• Evidence shown of exceptional personnel management.
• Commitment to philanthropic causes or corporate social responsibility.
• Other exceptional achievements such as business awards, public service etc.

Fact sheet C: EY-Bank of Singapore Asean Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

The EY Asean Entrepreneurial Excellence (AEE) awards honors Asean leaders who make a difference, inspire and motivate the business community to achieve excellence in their respective industries.

Launched in 2015, this honorary award is especially appropriate following the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which calls for the economic integration of the 10 members of ASEAN.

The AEE is a special recognition and honorary award that is presented and celebrated on board the EOY platform. The award takes the form of a closed nomination and the recipient is conferred and awarded by EY.

Eligibility criteria:

• The business may be private or publicly traded.
• The business must be headquartered in Asean.
• The business must have an Asean footprint and made an impact in the region and/or beyond.
• The nominee has demonstrated the ability to lead and grow the business.
• The nominee displays high levels of integrity, business acumen as well as leadership.
• The nominee, through the business, has successfully demonstrated:
  • A sustainable and long-term oriented strategy
  • Exceptional personnel management
  • Commitment to philanthropic causes or corporate social responsibility in the Asean region
  • Other exceptional achievements such as business awards and public service awards etc.