Kiwis shine at EY World Entrepreneur Awards in Monaco

MONACO, Today: Mike Gray and Andrea Rongonui, along with New Zealand’s David Yu, founder of VeVe, spent last week in Monaco. They mingled with elite entrepreneurs at the invite-only EY World Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

“It was great to be cheering for David when he took to the stage to receive his award,” said Gray.

Rongonui, last year’s Māori businesswoman of the year, attended the Women @ World cocktail reception. Held on the rooftop Prince Rainier III suite of Hotel de Paris, it overlooked the Monaco Casino.

“I heard some of the most incredible stories by some amazing wāhine toa. Jenny Zhu, who owns Lush Décor, started as an immigrant from China. Now her company turns over $ 1 billion annually. She has just written a book to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs.”

Gray, an EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year alumnus, was amazed by the scale of the businesses. “Despite the bodyguards for some finalists, everyone was down to earth. We all share a common bond of entrepreneurship and the battle to build something from nothing.

“It’s clear that giving back to the community in an authentic way is now a critical part of what being a successful business truly is.” – Andrea Rongonui

We had an APAC dinner at CITO, a restaurant high above Monaco on a mountain edge. I spoke with Dr Howard Young. His company Montage Technology handles 45% of all downloads worldwide.”

Gray continued, “But the standout meeting was with Builder.ai founder Sachin Dev Duggal. They describe it as the next generation composable app development platform.

It allows users to create software by combining components like stacking Lego bricks. It was a mind-blowing meeting,” Gray added.

The couple, now off to London Tech Week, reflected on a whirlwind trip of seminars, meetings, and events. “It really does inspire you and elevate your thinking,” said Gray.

“I spoke with the overall winner from India, Vellayan Subbiah, at the after party. He has 50,000 employees! The judge’s decision to choose Vellayan over the other 51 finalists was due to his community work and how he gives back.

“It’s clear that giving back to the community in an authentic way is now a critical part of what being a successful business truly is,” concludes Rongonui.