Go-getting local firms with annual revenue of up to $20 million can join the race for one of corporate Singapore's most coveted business awards.
The Emerging Enterprise Award - now in its 11th year - was launched to recognise outstanding small and medium-sized enterprises and arm them with a boost for further growth.
Past winners include notable brands such as Benjamin Barker, Secretlab and The Golden Duck.
Up to three firms stand a chance to win the Emerging Enterprise Winner title, with prizes of consultancy services, executive education programmes, business debit card credits, travel packages and a $200,000 interest-free business overdraft facility from OCBC Bank, a co-organiser of the event alongside The Business Times.
The awards are also supported by Mastercard, Acorn Marketing and Research Consultants, Singtel, Insead, Wavemaker, Enterprise Singapore and official auditor RSM.
They will also continue the tradition of honouring excellence in innovation and recognising promising newbies through the best innovation and most promising start-up awards.
Singtel and OCBC will present up to two winners with the Best Innovation Award, which recognises emerging enterprises that have a strong innovative culture. Each winner will receive up to $30,000 worth of information and communications technology business solutions from Singtel and an interest-free business overdraft facility of $50,000 from OCBC.
One company under three years of age stands to win the Most Promising Startup Award, which honours firms with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a commercially viable and sustainable product idea. The prize package for this award has been enhanced, with the winner receiving a digital consulting package and media inventory worth $50,000 from media agency Wavemaker, compared with a $30,000 package last year.
Companies can enter the Emerging Enterprise awards if they have been in operation for no more than 10 years, while at least 30 per cent of shareholding must be owned by citizens or permanent residents.
Business Times editor Wong Wei Kong noted that the awards have served "to empower start-ups and young enterprises for the past 10 years", recognising their achievements and offering them the resources to scale up.
Ms Christie Chu, head of emerging business, global commercial banking at OCBC, said: "Innovation and digitisation continue to be key themes, so we hope that participating businesses will be able to share their ideas and learn from each other, in order to better take advantage of resulting growth opportunities in Singapore and beyond."
Emerging enterprises have until June 1 to apply.
