The winners of Thailand’s very first Entrepreneur Now Awards (ENA) 2015 are soon to be announced and the judges are now faced with the daunting task of selecting the winners from over 100 nominations.
The winners will be announced on November 17th at the ENA Awards Night at Four Points By Sheraton Bangkok.
The ENA is the brainchild of Pacharee Pantoomano Pfirsch, founder of Bangkok Now (BNOW), one of Bangkok’s networking communities. Pacharee is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of Brand Now, a boutique marketing and PR company based in Thailand.
“I am honored to have such a prominent panel of judges from the local and international business community, many of who are entrepreneurs with years of experience,” said Pacharee.
“We have such a wide spectrum of both Thai and foreign nominees from various industries, making the selection of winners a challenging feat,” pointed out Pacharee, adding that the entry deadline for ENA had to be extended by two weeks due to overwhelming response and the high level of interest.
Through ENA, Pacharee wants to recognize Thai and foreign entrepreneurs operating in the Kingdom of Thailand, as Thailand opens its doors to ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The award’s objective is to promote entrepreneurism, attract investors to Thailand and the ASEAN region, and revitalize the Thai economy and the SME sector.
Judges include Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, Managing Director of founder of Thailand’s largest e-commerce service Rakuten TARAD Co., Ltd serial entrepreneur Fred Mouawad of Synergia One group of companies, Paul Robere, Managing Director of quality management consulting firm Robere & Associates, Lay Cheng Tan, Programme Officer at UNESCO, Michael I. Waitze, Managing Partner, Asia at ventureLab Growth Partners, Juthasree Kuvinichkul of GrabTaxi Thailand and Conor Bracken, Founder and CEO of localization company Andovar.
The ENA also hopes to champion the entrepreneurial spirit, cultivate the entrepreneur culture and support the eco-system to sustain it.
The ENA is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to highlight their creations and gain recognition for their achievements, said Pawoot, who also serves as ENA’s honorary advisor.
“Innofficiency is the key to entrepreneurism. This term is derived from the words Innovation and Efficiency. Entrepreneurs are not only creative, but also possess great management skill that leads to efficient management. Entrepreneurs should also think beyond profits and create something that can make a difference in the world while at the same time, pursing their passion,” explained Pawoot.
The judges applaud the ENA project for its recognition program and for focusing on the achievements of specific individuals and their contributions to the world of business and their society.
Paul Robere and Fred Mouawad added that the ENA was a wonderful opportunity to recognize, encourage, and promote entrepreneurs in Thailand. “There is no better way to build the start-up ecosystem than by encouraging budding entrepreneurs to interact, learn, and get inspired by their peers. Success breeds success, and ENA is a boost to the entire ecosystem of entrepreneurs,” said Fred.
This was echoed by venture capitalist Michael I Waitze, who added that the entrepreneurial and start up ecosystem is moving from a disjointed collection of participants to a connected group of professionals. UNESCO’s Lay Cheng observed that globally, entrepreneurship is attracting a lot of attention from policy makers, educators and particularly among the young people, who are drivers of economic growth and innovations.
Speaking from personal experience, Conor Bracken pointed out that a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem requires more than good ideas and talent. Access to capital and credit, infrastructure, and mentors are equally important.
“The ENA is a great initiative to promote the ecosystem, providing entrepreneurs with opportunities to learn, fine-tune their business models and open more doors toward their goals,” added GrabTaxi Thailand’s Juthasree Kuvinichkul.
The nominees will be judged on the following criteria: uniqueness, vision and potential growth, value in Thailand & ASEAN, eco-sustainability, striking achievements and how they overcame challenges.
A total of 11 awards will be handed out to the following categories: Most Outstanding Male / Female Entrepreneur, The Eco Entrepreneur, The Creative Entrepreneur, The Social Enterprise Entrepreneur, Student Plan, The Exceptional ASEAN/Foreign Owned Company, The Exceptional Thai Owned Company, The Most Entrepreneurial Team, SME (30 to 100 employees) and Micro Enterprise (less than 30).
Sponsors for ENA include Thai AirAsia X, Acer, YouGov, Big Picture, Avon and Brand Now. Partners include the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (AMCHAM), Bangkok Entrepreneurs, Bangkok University, Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce, Thai-Italian Chamber of Commerce and UNESCO. Class Act Media is the media partner and Friends include Busy Bees @115, Kliquedesk, ONEDAY, 63 Bangkok and The Hive Bangkok.
