Agorae Pte Ltd emerges top in E50 Awards 2019

AGORAE Pte Ltd took home top honours at the Enterprise 50 (E50) Awards 2019 on Tuesday, a stunning achievement for the new entrant.

Agorae is the holding entity for the Teledirect group of companies, a leading provider of business process services which rebranded to TDCX on Monday.

Said CEO Laurent Junique: "It is an incredible honour for Agorae Pte Ltd to be recognised as the top homegrown business in 2019. Being part of this exclusive group in Singapore will certainly boost our confidence as we expand our business overseas, and continue to transform to stay ahead in this ever-changing economic landscape."

Integrated real estate developer Soilbuild Group followed in second place, and commodity trading house Valency International Trading came in third. (see amendment note)

The three firms topped a field of outstanding local businesses recognised for their accomplishments, spirit of innovation excellence and sustainable business models at the E50 Awards gala dinner held at the Resorts World Convention Centre on Tuesday.

Launched in 1995, the E50 Awards identify, support, recognise and reward the 50 most enterprising, privately-held local companies in Singapore.

The 25th edition of the awards featured three special recognition awards, including a Digital Economy Award given for the first time to the business identified as having the potential to be a billion-dollar company. Homegrown fintech startup M-DAQ Pte Ltd received the accolade for its highly scalable and profitable business, in which it enables cross-border transactions at cheaper, guaranteed exchange rates.

Guest-of-honour Heng Swee Keat, deputy prime minister and finance minister, presented the awards.

"Technology, and in particular, digital technology offers many new possibilities to transform how we run existing businesses, and to create new opportunities," said Mr Heng. "It is fitting that the organisers have introduced a special 25th Year Digital Economy Award to recognise this."

The Special Recognition - Internationalisation Award was presented to Akribis Systems for its clear overseas expansion strategies, and Ademco (Far East) received the Special Recognition - Enterprise Transformation Award for leveraging technology to transform its business in a traditional sector.

The awards are jointly organised by KPMG in Singapore and The Business Times, and sponsored by OCBC Bank. Supporters of the awards include Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Exchange.

Amendment note: A previous version of this article incorrectly described Valency International Trading's business. The article above has been amended to reflect the correct description.