Lim Wai Mun, CEO of Doctor Anywhere, has been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Singapore (EOY).
The 40-year-old beat five other category winners and will go on to compete with winners from other countries at next June’s EY World Entrepreneur of the Year.
“Being an entrepreneur goes beyond starting and growing a business. It’s fundamentally about a relentless focus on innovation and purpose to drive societal impact,” says Lim.
“For the health care industry, the past two years have been an especially trying time, but it has also propelled it to a new, digital era of better and efficient health care. I’m humbled and honored to be named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Singapore, and I hope to continue playing my part to grow our thriving local startup ecosystem,” he adds.
Lim, who used to work at Standard Chartered Bank and Temasek, launched the telemedicine platform back in 2017, seeking to connect “care-seekers” to healthcare providers through video-calls via mobile phone.
From some initial scepticism, Doctor Anywhere today counts 2.5 million users and more than 600 employees across six countries. Besides Singapore, the company also operates in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. To date, the company has raised more than $140 million from investors such as EDBI and IHH Healthcare.
See also: Doris Hsu of Taiwan's GlobalWafers named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023
The other five category winners, who were in the running for the top award, are: Akshay Garg, co-founder and group CEO of fintech firm FinAccel; Julian Ng, CEO of advanced manufacturer Grand Venture Technology; Kane Black, CEO of biotech firm Inex Innovate; Jonathan Lim, CEO of food and beverage solutions firm Oddle and last but not least, Melissa Tan, CEO of waste management firm Wah & Hua.
In addition, two other special awards were given out. The EY Family Business Award of Excellence was presented to Agrocorp International.
The EY Asean Entrepreneurial Excellence award was given to Keeree Kanjanapas of BTS Group Holdings, famous for being the operator of BTS Skytrain system in Bangkok.
See also: Nominations open for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 awards in Singapore
Liew Nam Soon, EY Asean regional managing partner and Singapore and Brunei managing partner observes that over the years, business leaders are increasingly recognizing the importance of building a purpose-driven business. By doing so, they can help create a sustainable business and deliver long-term value to stakeholders.
“Building a purpose-driven business takes grit, resilience and agility to not only navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship and unpredictability of economic conditions, but also rally stakeholders around an unwavering vision and belief. This is what we are seeing with our winning entrepreneurs,” says Liew.
The EOY, in its 21st year here in Singapore, was held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong was the guest of honour.
The official partners of the EOY awards are the Singapore Exchange (partner); Portfolio, The Business Times and The Edge Singapore (official media partners). The supporters are Action Community for Entrepreneurship; Enterprise Singapore; Singapore Business Federation; and SkillsFuture Singapore.
