Citi Commercial Bank Celebrates 'Spirit of Entrepreneurship' With INSPIRING ENTREPRENEURS Series

Featuring founders and business leaders who have made an impact and championed the power of diversity in the workplace

SINGAPORE, March 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Citi Commercial Bank has launched a series to showcase founders and business leaders of fast-growing companies with a presence in Singapore, and how they are navigating their expansion plans. The five-week series, entitled "INSPIRING ENTREPRENEURS", kicks off on Wednesday, 8 March 2023, 8:15am on MONEY FM 89.3 and continues on the same timeslot for five weeks.

Each episode is a 15-minute in depth interview with a business owner or senior leader as they talk about their struggles and wins, their growth ambitions for the company and how choosing the right partners to support their goals is crucial.

As the launch of the series coincides with International Women's Day, interviewees will also discuss the importance of gender diversity and embracing equity in the workplace, with some sharing their personal stories on being a female executive.

Speaking on how Citi can enable these fast-growing companies, Lin Hsiu-Yi, ASEAN & Singapore Head of Citi Commercial Bank (CCB) said, "As mid to large-sized companies scale faster and expand internationally, they will require more complex financial advisory and may encounter challenges with having fragmented banking setups. With Citi's extensive network and on the ground expertise, we are well-equipped to help these companies build global and efficient solutions as they grow".

"We hope that through this series, many others out there who are embarking on their own journey of expansion, will be inspired by the determination and grit of these leaders," adds Hsiu-Yi.

The series will also be available on Google and Apple podcast apps, Spotify and the SPH Radio app Awedio.

The companies that will be featured in this five-part series are as follows:

Christy Wong, Co-founder of Manabie

Founded by Takuya Homma and Christy Wong in 2019, Manabie is on a mission to provide a new style of merged learning to learners around the world. The start-up, which began in Vietnam, merges online and offline learning by offering online learning material and coaching and supplementing it with offline learning experience where students can receive guidance from individual counsellors. Manabie is currently headquartered in Singapore and operating in Vietnam and Japan, with additional markets to follow.

With over 8 years of Investment Banking and Consulting experience, Christy previously worked at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. She was also part of Lazada Group's founding team where she was Executive Vice President of Investor Relations. Christy spent one year in the public sector before founding Manabie.  

Jocelin Soon, Chief Financial Officer at Interplex Holdings Pte Ltd

Interplex, a world leader in designing and manufacturing interconnect and mechanical products, is a go-to source to solve complex design challenges for the mobility, information & communications, and medical markets. The company creates value by helping customers reduce their Total Cost of Ownership and achieves this by leveraging their unique multi-disciplinary skill set from both electro-mechanical and mechanical disciplines. Headquartered in Singapore, Interplex has more than 11,000 employees across 33 sites and 13 countries where all its activities are conducted in a socially responsible way, with minimal impact on the environment.

Jocelin is currently Chief Financial Officer at Interplex, providing leadership in driving the company's financial performance and growth. Jocelin started her career in audit at Ernst & Young LLP and joined Interplex in 2010.

Richard Koh, Founder/Group CEO at M-DAQ

M-DAQ is a financial technology company that empowers businesses and individuals in cross-border transactions by harnessing data to provide foreign exchange clarity and certainty. Its innovation of tomorrow further leverages data to provide embedded finance and credit solutions, making credit more accessible to businesses and their employees. Founded in 2010 with the belief that resources may be limited but aspirations are not, M-DAQ's vision is to create a World without Currency Borders® for all to participate and thrive in the global economy.

Richard has over 36 years of industry experience in Infocomm, Treasury (Foreign Exchange) and eCommerce. Richard also holds four technical patents and has won numerous accolades including Entrepreneur of the Year by Singapore Computer Society in 2018, and Entrepreneur of the Year - Financial Technology by Ernst & Young in 2020.

Shayna Teh, Co-founder at Food Market Hub

Food Market Hub is an end-to-end procurement management platform which automates all back-end operations for F&B businesses. It allows restaurants to manage existing suppliers and connect with new suppliers, all while providing a seamless payments option, and minimising food cost and wastage using AI. Likewise, suppliers use Food Market Hub to manage and consolidate orders and collections. Food Market Hub is building towards the future of F&B by enabling this massively underserved segment with a complete ecosystem covering sourcing, SaaS and financing.

Shayna started her career as a financial auditor where she grew the local audit firm with a 12-person team to 50, setup an advisory arm and led a round of merger & acquisition as part of their expansion. In 2017, Shayna launched Food Market Hub and successfully led a Series A+ fundraising round in 2021.

Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas, Managing Director, Data and Software Solutions at PropertyGuru Group

At PropertyGuru Group, Shyn Yee is responsible for driving the vision, strategy, and execution of innovative and game-changing data and software solutions and services, with a focus on enterprise customers in the property sector. Shyn Yee is a Non-Executive Board Member and Chair of the Fundraising Committee of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), the leading gender equality advocacy group in Singapore, as well as a fellow at the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.

In support of taking action to advance gender equity at Citi and in communities across the globe, the bank recently released a Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS) report that focuses on, and engages with, women entrepreneurs around the world. The report identifies key barriers to women entrepreneurial growth and quantifies the opportunities if those barriers were removed – providing targeted recommendations for the financial community, governments, and private sector. Access full report here.

About Citi

Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in nearly 160 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.

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