Yearly, Ernst & Younger (EY) recognises a lineup of entrepreneurs in its EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) awards programme. That is one thing that occurs worldwide, and in Malaysia particularly, it has been an annual occasion for over twenty years.
The Malaysian version of this prestigious award has seen winners comparable to Prime Glove Company’s YBhg Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee-Chai, AirAsia’s YBhg Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Kamarul A Muhamed of Aerodyne Group, and lots of extra notable entrepreneurs.
The EOY awards has 4 classes, specifically Rising Entrepreneur, Expertise Entrepreneur, Girl Entrepreneur, and Grasp Entrepreneur.
Listed below are the entrepreneurs who had been celebrated by the Malaysian EOY awards this yr.
Rising Entrepreneur Of The Year: Ian Chua and Venon Tian of ZUS Espresso
With COO Venon Tian having simply been named SEBA’s Entrepreneur of the Year, ZUS Espresso continues its profitable streak with founders Venon and Ian Chua (CEO) incomes the joint title EY Rising Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023.
Extra than simply serving espresso, ZUS Espresso touts itself as a tech-driven chain, utilising trendy know-how to set its merchandise aside.
The Malaysian espresso chain can also be recognized for its widespread accessibility, having grown greater than 320 shops in simply 4 brief years. And it looks as if it’s solely up from right here for the staff.
ZUS Espresso is increasing its operations to the Phillipines and slightly birdie advised us that it might simply be searching for grasp franchisers in different international locations within the area.
Apart from the duo, different high nominees on this class embrace:
- Ker Chin Keong, the founder and CEO of E Well being, a research-based firm producing well being merchandise beneath Excelife.
- William Tan Wei Lun, the managing director and CEO of ITMAX System, which is working to reinforce high quality of life by good metropolis options.
- Ezra Tan Koon Hock, the CEO of Kairos Harvest, an agritech firm with a wise, built-in vanilla farm in Penang.
Expertise Entrepreneur Of The Year: Giva Kuppusamy of GK Aqua
Based by Giva Kuppusamy in 2016, GK Aqua is an aquaculture-focused startup that’s working to attain a inexperienced round financial system by biotechnology.
With their know-how, the staff helps freshwater prawn farmers obtain 3 times increased yields. Past simply upping manufacturing, Giva has additionally helped create over 30 jobs for the deprived by its Malaysian Udang Galah Aquapreneur (MUGA) programme.
With a flagship 1,000-acre undertaking in Pahang, GK Aqua has been recognised by platforms comparable to Cradle and SME Corp as a promising biotech startup, EY acknowledged.
The high nominees on this class embrace:
- Dr Raymond Choy, the CEO DOC2US. The telemedicine and e-pharmacy platform connects healthcare professionals with sufferers to enhance Malaysians’ wellbeing and well being.
- Tommy Lim, the managing director of ICT Zone Asia, which is a know-how and financing platform that gives know-how service options to handle the life cycles of IT units.
Girl Entrepreneur Of The Year: Lee Hui Jing of BilaBila Mart
Launched simply days earlier than the pandemic lockdowns, BilaBila Mart is a Malaysian comfort retailer chain with a story of resilience and development. Right this moment, it has 48 shops and counting, based on its Instagram web page.
Its founder, Lee Hui Jing, is well known by EOY for her entrepreneurship that additionally serves to help different aspiring entrepreneurs.
Not simply your typical comfort retailer, BilaBila Mart is devoted to retailing native manufacturers with no presence within the typical brick-and-mortar chain shops at zero price, serving as a platform for different native SMEs.
The high nominees of this class are:
- Dr Tan Hui Ling, the managing director of Bagan Specialist Centre, which was the primary personal hospital on mainland Penang again when it was established in 1988. Right this moment, it’s grow to be a one-stop multidisciplinary, complete tertiary hospital.
- Sandy Tan Sing Yee, the CEO of Optimax Holdings, an eye fixed healthcare and options firm that leverages superior know-how to offer eye healthcare providers.
Grasp Entrepreneur Of The Year: Dato’ Foong Wei Kuong of JF Expertise
Lastly, the honour of being EY Malaysia’s Grasp Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 goes to Dato’ Foong Wei Kuong, the founder and managing director of JF Expertise.
Part of Malaysia’s flourishing semiconductors {industry}, JF Expertise is a supplier of high-performance take a look at interface options for world built-in circuit (IC) makers.
In response to EY, the entrepreneur began this enterprise in his personal kitchen as a producer and dealer of digital elements.
In time, he remodeled that enterprise into one of many high take a look at contacting options suppliers in not simply Malaysia however the world, serving over 100 multinational firms globally.
The firm has filed 85 patents worldwide and at present owns 38 patents.
Greater than its work within the subject, JF Expertise additionally works with native universities to supply industry-relevant topics to nurture younger skills, elevating Malaysia’s place within the semiconductor worth chain.
Different shortlisted nominees on this class definitely deserve recognition too. There’s Vinesh Sinha, the managing director of FatHopes Vitality. The firm makes use of biofuels to cut back carbon emissions, aggregating used cooking oil in a logistically economical approach for biofuel producers.
There’s additionally Ong Grasp Ping, the CEO and government director of Sunview Group, an organization providing holistic renewable power. Taking on the enterprise in 2015, this entrepreneur expanded the corporate’s attain to assist extra folks play an element in making a sustainable power ecosystem.
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We congratulate all of the winners in addition to the nominees of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Malaysia 2023.
Of course, this solely marks the start of a brand new chapter for these entrepreneurs, whom we are going to regulate to see what additional improvements they could convey to the Malaysian entrepreneurial panorama.
- Be taught extra about EY Entrepreneur Of The Year right here.
- Learn different articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: Ernst & Younger