Three Singapore-based startups named to the 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs programme

By Digital News Asia March 6, 2018

The programme will commence in Amsterdam from 21-24 April, 2018
Over the course of the year, EY will support the start-ups with guidance, advice and planning

Three Singapore-based startups named to the 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs programme

EY HAS selected 30 promising entrepreneurs from across Asia-Pacific, the Americas and EMEIA to take part in its 2018 Accelerating Entrepreneurs (AE) programme. Of these, three entrepreneurs are from Singapore:

Olivier Berthier, CEO, Moneythor
Navin Suri, CEO, Percipient Partners, Pte Ltd
Neeraj Sundarajoo (Raj), Founder & COO, Zeemart

The 2018 class of entrepreneurs represent dynamic businesses that focus on innovative and disruptive fields like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, customer interface, analytics, robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The programme will commence in Amsterdam from 21-24 April, 2018, and over the course of the year, EY will support the selected start-ups with strategic guidance, advice and planning to help them to scale and grow their businesses globally.

EY Global Growth Markets deader Annette Kimmitt, says: “The AE programme identifies leading startups who show an ability to present new business models and entry ways into markets. This year’s class is already solving big challenges, disrupting their markets and have cutting-edge technologies.

“We want to prepare these transformative entrepreneurs to expand from their local markets to a position of navigating and leading the world by pursuing their global growth objectives.”

Adrian Koh, EY Asean Growth Markets Leader and Assurance Partner, Ernst & Young LLP adds: “The representation of Singapore-based entrepreneurs in the programme reflects the increasingly vibrant startup ecosystem in Singapore. Many Singapore-based startups are not only plugging existing gaps but creating opportunity and demand by using emerging technologies and redefining industry boundaries.

“These entrepreneurs are adopting innovative and collaborative approaches, through joint ventures, partnerships and alliances with like-minded businesses, in taking their ideas to market. Singapore-based startups are embracing the global market, recognising that they do not always have to start with a specific geographical location.”

Participating Singapore-based entrepreneurs echo the importance of collaboration in a robust start-up ecosystem.

Berthier, says: “Working with large financial institutions is at the core of our value proposition. So, collaboration between small firms like us and large enterprises is very dear to our heart. Our experience is that managing the cultural mix between different market participants can be hard work but also invaluable in bringing new solutions to reality.”

“Partnerships help start-ups to accelerate product completion, save precious development time and costs, and speed up market testing. Fundamentally, to become more valuable, each start-up must see themselves like a ‘lego brick’ and be ready to partner alongside or as part of another start-up or a fully developed product,” adds Navin.

“You increase your chances of survival and sustainability, both of which are really important for startups, by being part of an ecosystem. Collaboration helps build better ecosystems faster,” says Neeraj

Helping entrepreneurs scale and grow

Tapping into EY’s long-standing and extensive network of global entrepreneurs, the AE programme will draw upon this knowledge to help the start-ups bolster their business plans in response to improving economic conditions across global markets.

In Amsterdam, the start-ups will also attend Innovation Realised 2018, an EY two-day business conference from 23-24 April attended by global thought leaders, corporate executives and other disruptive entrepreneurs.

There the startups will collaborate with leading businesses in attendance on how to rapidly scale their companies to operate, grow and compete in a global business environment increasingly defined by industry convergence.

Over the course of 2018, the comprehensive programme includes:

The opportunity to network and form ongoing relationships with EY Growth Coaches, global entrepreneurs, industry leaders and EY professionals.
Access to a dedicated EY service executive to focus on the business issue most critical to the growth acceleration of participants together with an EY Growth NavigatorTM session to help assess capabilities and deliver growth plans.
Access to the global EY entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The participating Singapore-based entrepreneurs shared the potential impact of the program.

Neeraj says: “This is an opportunity to help me discover or build new growth drivers and enablers that can help to achieve Zeemart’s goals more rapidly than planned.”

Navin adds: “This is highly motivating and helps to bolster the confidence of our early-stage investors. As we begin to leverage EY's knowledge, market credibility and client access to deliver our capabilities faster and better, we expect the program to have significant positive impact on our growth too.”

Berthier sums it up: “As an entrepreneur, it is easy to get swamped under a myriad of tactical and strategic activities. Participating in the 2018 EY AE programme will be a welcome opportunity to relook at the big picture.”