Five winners of EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 Singapore Awards named

[SINGAPORE] Professional services firm EY has named five leaders as category winners for the annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 Singapore Awards.

They are from a mix of sectors “advancing frontier technologies, expanding access to financial services, strengthening supply chains or redefining everyday consumer experiences”, said Lee Chuan Teck, executive chairman of Enterprise Singapore and chair of this year’s judging panel.

The category winners are:

• Jefferson Chen, co-founder, group chairman and CEO of Advance Intelligence Group – financial technology (digital financial solutions)
• Lim Hock Chee, CEO and co-founder of Sheng Siong Group – consumer products and retail
• Byung Joon Han, co-founder, CEO and board director of Silicon Box – advanced manufacturing
• Praveen Kumar Jain, chairman and co-founder of Valency International – commodities and agriculture; and
• Caecilia Chu, CEO and co-founder of YouTrip – financial technology (payment solutions)

In a statement on Thursday (Sep 17), EY said the winners were selected from a pool of more than 50 nominations by an independent judging panel, which used the criteria of entrepreneurial spirit, growth, purpose and impact.

One of the five will be named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Singapore and represent Singapore at the annual EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year (WEOY) awards in 2027, competing with contenders from about 50 countries and jurisdictions.

Singapore’s representative to the WEOY award will be announced at the EY EOY awards gala on Nov 25. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong will be the guest of honour at that event.

Enterprise Singapore’s Lee lauded this year’s winners for standing out “not just for the scale of their achievements, but also for their clarity of purpose, vision for sustained growth, resilience in navigating challenges, and the positive impact they continue to make for industries, employees and communities”.

“Importantly, they are building successful companies that help strengthen Singapore’s reputation as a hub for innovation and enterprise leadership,” he added.

Liew Nam Soon, EY Asia East deputy regional managing partner, said that over the 25 years that EY has run this programme, “we have seen the far-reaching socio-economic impact entrepreneurs can create”.

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Nominations open for EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 awards

Beyond driving economic growth, he said that entrepreneurs “create quality jobs, build capabilities, develop talent and strengthen Singapore’s position in global markets”.

To mark the 25th edition of the EOY programme in Singapore, another special mention award – the EY Impact Award of Excellence – will be presented.

The award recognises the importance of business excellence and social impact going hand in hand.

The award is jointly presented by the National Council of Social Service and the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, which are impact partners in the selection of the award recipient from the pool of nominees.

Winners will be picked based on the purpose and impact of their work. The recipient does not compete for the EOY Singapore 2026 winner title, unless he or she is also a category award winner.

This award recipient will also be announced at the EY EOY awards gala in November.