BrazilPatSnap CEO Jeffrey Tiong named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for Singapore
EY has named Jeffrey Tiong, the CEO of data analytics software developers PatSnap, as its Singapore Entrepreneur of the Year award winner for 2018
Established more than 30 years ago to celebrate outstanding business achievements in vision and leadership around the globe, EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year programme has since its inception expanded to more than 50 countries and 145 cities worldwide – with individual country winners having been brought together since 2011 to contend for the esteemed EY World Entrepreneur of the Year title.
Representing Singapore at the 2019 event in Monte Carlo next June will be Jeffrey Toing, CEO of data and analytics platform developers PatSnap, after Tiong was crowned the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 for Singapore ahead of four fellow category winners at a ceremony held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia in Marina Bay this week. Toing had earlier been announced as the winner Analytics Intelligence category.
“Jeffrey is an outstanding technopreneur and innovator in his use of analytics intelligence to address the information gap in the R&D industry,” said YCH Group executive chairman Robert Yap, who chaired the prestigious independent panel of judges made up from leading figures of the Singaporean business community. “By taking strategic risks to disrupt the industry, he was able to carve out a new market and build a notable presence worldwide.”
Co-founded by Tiong in 2007, PatSnap seeks to enhance research & development productivity for innovators by providing a data and analytics platform which can search through and analyse some 130 million-plus international patents together with licensing, litigation and company information from around the globe – allowing research leaders to uncover tech trends, assess new opportunities, conduct competitor intelligence and maximise return on intellectual property.
Since its founding, with only S$55,000 in grant funding, PatSnap has grown to a headcount of over 700 employees serving a client base of 8,000-plus businesses, universities, start-ups, research organisations and other entities spanning more than 40 countries. Earlier this year, the firm raised $38 million in a Series D funding round led by existing investors Sequoia and Shunwei Capital, taking its overall capital raised to date to more than $100 million.
“It is a great honour to be named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Singapore,” Toing, who holds a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from the National University of Singapore, said of the accolade. “I think this shows that what we do is really meaningful, developing software to help research & development teams improve their innovation productivity. It is a good validation of the business we are in and the problem we are trying to solve.”
Selected from more than 40 nominations and assessed on six criteria, including entrepreneurial spirit and personal integrity, Toing was given the top award ahead of four other Singapore category winners; Von Lee Yong Miang, Chairman, Expand Construction for ‘Engineering & Construction; Cheong Chia Chou, Managing Director, Pictureworks for ‘Media & Lifestyle’; Laurent Junique, CEO, Teledirect for ‘Outsourced Solutions’, and; Christopher Ng, Group CEO, Rigel Technology for ‘Sustainable Bathroom Solutions’.
EY Singapore and ASEAN managing partner Max Loh said; “Our winning entrepreneurs stand up to disruption as an opportunity to innovate and grow even as they, like most other businesses, are confronted with many uncertainties and changes that come with a fast-evolving business landscape… When Jeffrey experienced difficulties in carrying out intellectual property (IP) due diligence, he saw an opportunity instead of a problem.”
EY has recently been supporting the next wave of innovators through a matchmaking platform for start-ups and investors, so far generating $12 billion in intended investments.
