17 female business leaders honoured at Women Entrepreneur Awards 2023

THE fourth edition of the Women Entrepreneur Awards (WEA) on Tuesday (Jul 25) honoured 17 women business leaders for their business and social contributions to Singapore.

About 400 people attended the gala dinner and awards ceremony at the Pan Pacific Hotel on Tuesday. The event marked the return of the awards – which aim to celebrate successful and promising women entrepreneurs – after a three-year pandemic hiatus. It was last held in 2019.

This year’s WEA received over 80 nominations across four categories: the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) category; the Large/Listed Companies category; the Corporate category; and the Phoenix Award.

The Corporate category and Phoenix Award were newly introduced this year. The former recognises C-level executives with at least five years in a company that earns a revenue of S$200 million or more; the latter recognises past WEA winners who have emerged stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In her opening address, WEA chairman Stephanie Cheo highlighted the “resilience and transformation” of Singapore’s women entrepreneurs and leaders during the pandemic.

“During this period of time, there were many challenges that we had to face, not just in business, but also with family issues and mental wellness,” she said. “The pandemic has changed our lives in many ways, but what it cannot change is our determination and perseverance to keep moving forward.”

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More women are also taking on leadership roles in Singapore, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling, who was the event’s guest of honour.

Citing data from Deloitte, she noted that around one in eight companies in Singapore now have female chief executive officers – which is the highest proportion globally, and more than double the global average.

Althea Lim, co-founder and CEO of influencer agency Gushcloud International, was crowned the overall winner of the SME category at this year’s awards.

“We were impressed by how she managed to grow a Singapore company into one with a global presence powered by strong content and intellectual property,” said Lawrence Leow, CEO and chairman of Crescendas Group, who headed the judging panel for the awards.

Speaking to The Business Times, Lim said Gushcloud took the opportunity to diversify into two new revenue streams, content publishing and content commerce, during the pandemic.

“We started out as an influencer marketing company, but we felt that was not enough. When you hold on to a talent or creator, what happens when they leave?”

The company thus began working with content creators to co-own a catalogue of content and license this content out to partners. It also worked with beauty influencers to co-develop new products and bring them to market.

Content publishing and content commerce now make up 25 per cent of Gushcloud’s total revenue.

The SME category had seven other winners, including Annie Yap of AYP Staffing; Germaine Chow of Crestbrick and The I Quadrant; Queenie Yang of Joyre Group; Yen Lim of Madam Partum; Kelly Keak of MTM Skincare; Emily Sim of Panelogue and Superstructure Singapore; and Voyce Chan of Voycestas.

Ng Gim Choo of EtonHouse International was the sole winner of the Large/Listed Companies category.

Five women were awarded the Phoenix Award. They were Elsie Liow of Adepture Consulting; Novie Djayayanti Tjoa of Eatz Group; Anna Gong of Perx Technologies; Simone Ng of Simone Jewels; and Sylvia Lim of The Emporium Group.

Three winners were awarded under the Corporate category: Angel Ding of Angliss Singapore; Wong Sze Keed of AIA Singapore; and Tay Bee Kheng of Cisco Systems.

During the pandemic, gourmet food supplier Angliss’ revenue dropped by 50 per cent, as the majority of its customers were hotels, restaurants and airlines, said Ding, the company’s managing director.

After observing a surge in e-commerce and home cooks, she set up Angliss Marketplace, a Facebook Live show, to sell its gourmet ingredients to consumers and tide the company through the pandemic.

Angliss also partnered with the Yellow Ribbon Project in November 2022, to have its chefs teach inmates baking skills to enhance their future employability.

All winners of WEA 2023 received a trophy and admission to the Women Entrepreneur Club. The club grants them access to a network of female business leaders, and opportunities for mentorship and partnerships.