30 innovative and technology-focused high-growth start-ups named to the 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program

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26 Feb, 2018, 00:01 GMT

-- EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program identifies its 2018 class from cutting-edge fields including augmented reality, AI, robotics and VR

-- The program aims to help local start-ups to scale their businesses globally

-- 2018 program will commence in Amsterdam from 21-24 April

LONDON, Feb. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- EY has selected 30 promising entrepreneurs from across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEIA to take part in its 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program. The 2018 class of entrepreneurs represent dynamic businesses that focus on innovative and disruptive fields like artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, virtual reality (VR), customer interface, analytics, robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT). Over the course of the year, EY will support the selected start-ups with strategic guidance, advice and planning to help them to scale and grow their businesses globally.

The program will commence in Amsterdam from 21-24 April, 2018. Tapping into EY's long-standing and extensive network of global entrepreneurs, the EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program will draw upon this knowledge to help the start-ups bolster their business plans in response to improving economic conditions across global markets. In Amsterdam, the start-ups will also attend Innovation Realized 2018, an EY two-day business conference from 23-24 April attended by global thought leaders, corporate executives and other disruptive entrepreneurs. There, the start-ups will collaborate with leading businesses in attendance on how to rapidly scale their companies to operate, grow and compete in a global business environment increasingly defined by industry convergence.

Annette Kimmitt, EY Global Growth Markets Leader, says:

"The EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program identifies leading start-ups who show an ability to present new business models and entry ways into markets. This year's class is already solving big challenges, disrupting their markets and have cutting-edge technologies. We want to prepare these transformative entrepreneurs to expand from their local markets to a position of navigating and leading the world by pursuing their global growth objectives."

This year's EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs class was chosen based upon their potential to grow across borders, solve big challenges, develop cutting-edge solutions and innovation, drive strategic direction and demonstrate leadership.

Over the course of 2018, the selected entrepreneurs will be part of a comprehensive program that includes:

The opportunity to network and form ongoing relationships with EY Growth Coaches, global entrepreneurs, industry leaders and EY professionals.
Access to a dedicated EY service executive to focus on the business issue most critical to the growth acceleration of participants together with an EY Growth Navigator™ session to help assess capabilities and deliver growth plans.
Access to the global EY entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Bryan Pearce, EY Global Leader – Entrepreneurship, says:

"Today's business environment requires innovation to keep pace with the rapid changes caused by changing regulatory standards and geopolitical uncertainty. This year's class of EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs are not only pushing the boundaries of innovation but they are also the next generation of global business leaders. We are excited by this year's class and look forward to providing these emerging businesses with the leading practices to help accelerate their growth."

Notes to editors

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.

About the EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program
The EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs program helps fast-growth start-ups from around the world to scale their business through one-to-one guidance, networking and insight sharing. Split into three Areas: the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEIA, the program is designed to help accelerate entrepreneurs through the next steps of their growth journey to become the global market leaders of tomorrow.

A full list of the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEIA 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs include:

The 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs from the Americas are:

Thomas Brady, Co-Founder & CTO, SkySpecs, Inc., United States
Optimizing the operations and maintenance of large energy infrastructure with autonomous robotics
Omar Haroun, Co-Founder & COO, Text IQ, United States
Using AI technology to analyze big data to support high-profile litigations and government investigations
Ron Jacobson, CEO, Rockerbox, Inc., United States
Enabling clients to analyze customer intelligence through the use of recency-based browsing analytics
Diego Oppenheimer, CEO, Algorithmia, Inc., United States
Specializing in building products and services by deploying machine learning and AI
Maci Peterson, CEO, On Second Thought, Inc., United States
A messaging app that lets users take back text messages before they get to the other person's phone
Antonio Carlos Soares da Costa Jr., Co-Founder & CEO, Mais Simples Informatica Ltda., Brazil
Enabling businesses to be more productive through a project management SaaS platform
Zac Sheffer, CEO and Co-Founder, Elsen, Inc., United States
Using AI technology to help financial services organizations enhance and transform investment strategies
Lea Tarnowski, Co-Founder, President and COO, Averon US, Inc., United States
Security authentication platform for mobile devices integrated into wireless carriers
Kedma Tolentino, CEO, 4Dmais Comércio e Serviços de Tecnologia da Informação Ltda, Brazil
Developing products and services based on augmented, virtual and mixed reality and gamification
David Ratner, CEO, Realm, United States
Provider of a mobile database that runs directly inside phones, tablets or wearables

The 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs from Asia-Pacific are:

Olivier Berthier, CEO, Moneythor, Singapore
Helping financial institutions deliver more intelligent and personalised digital banking to their customers
Michael Kruger, Founder & CEO, Boundlss, Australia
Helping clients and insurers improve health and wellbeing through AI, data and wearable technologies
Wei Huang, Founder & CEO, Unisound, Greater China
An IoT AI services specialist that owns proprietary and cutting-edge speech recognition apps
Trent Clews-de Castella, Co-Founder & CEO, PHORIA Pty. Ltd., Australia
Specializing in 3D, 360 video, holographic, interactive, augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies
Kenny Chien, Founder & CEO, Emotibot, Greater China
Making human emotional intelligence understood by digital assistants, chatbots and virtual agents
Dennis Khoo, Founder & CEO, Xerafy Ltd., Greater China
Providing industrial radio-frequency ID tag solutions and automated management system of surgical instruments
Keenan Kwok, Co-Founder & Chairman, GetLinks Inc., Greater China
Specializing in helping technology companies find and hire top talent in Asia
Justin McArdle, CEO, Frame Mixed Reality Labs, Australia
Developing virtual reality products and services within the mixed reality landscape
Navin Suri, CEO, Percipient Partners, Pte. Ltd, Singapore
Helping businesses virtualize and access any data, from any location or device, and deliver it in real-time to any application
Patrick Ngan, Co-Founder & Group President, QF Pay International Limited, Greater China
Providing mobile and digital payment and value-added services to merchants across Asia and elsewhere
Neeraj Sundarajoo (Raj), Founder & COO, Zeemart, Singapore
Empowering businesses in the F&B industry to make smarter purchasing decisions

The 2018 EY Accelerating Entrepreneurs from EMEIA are:

Idriss Al Rifai, Founder & CEO, Fetchr, United Arab Emirates
An innovative tech-driven courier service transforming the traditional way of sending and receiving packages
Pavel Chmelar, Co-Founder, GREYCORTEX, Czech Republic
Using AI, machine learning and data mining methods to help make organizations' IT operations more secure and reliable
Bohdan Hnatkovskyy, Co-Founder and CEO, Brainify B.V., The Netherlands
Transforming property development companies to manage their projects with analytics and digital platforms
Jaroslaw Krolewski, CEO, Synerise, Poland
Understanding customer behavior with AI, semantic web, predictive analysis, machine learning and automation
Mercedes Iborra, Co-Founder & COO, VisualNACert, Spain
Providing farm management software and geospatial mapping to control and manage crop yields and stocks
Anton Potikha, Founder & CEO, ARbrowser, Ukraine
Enabling mobile platforms to use augmented reality templates for retail marketing
Matthew Smith, CEO, SteelEye, United Kingdom
Using cloud-based solutions to provide financial markets firms with a consolidated answer to regulatory requirements for trade and communications data
Sjur Usken, CEO, Smart Plants AS, Norway
Utilizing IoT and other smart technologies to reduce expenses and increase efficiency for industrial clients
Gareth Williams, Founder & Managing Director, YellowDog, United Kingdom
Securely harnessing underutilized computer power, enabling organizations to deliver quickly and cost effectively, by leveraging this on demand