Irish entrepreneur and founder of ed-tech start-up Prep Zone, Mícheál Collins, has been honoured in Singapore for his “commitment to the spirit of enterprise” and work “inspiring Singapore’s youth to pursue entrepreneurship”.

Mr Collins, from Kildorrery in Co Cork, was among 31 business leaders who received the Spirit of Enterprise award from Singapore's minister for trade and industry Lee Yi Shyan.

“We are recognising 31 outstanding business leaders for their ‘can do’ spirit and for becoming one of the best in their fields of businesses,” Mr Shyan said.

He said entrepreneurship is growing in Singapore, adding that there are now more varied and niche opportunities for business ventures.

Business partner

Mr Collins set up Prep Zone in Singapore in 2007 with his Sri Lankan business partner Nagitha Kumarasinghe.

The company, which helps people train for standardised admissions tests, now has more than 60 employees at its offices in Singapore, China, India and the United Arab Emirates.

“We set up the business with just €4,000 and now we have annual revenues of several million euro,” Mr Collins said. Mr Collins also co-founded Kraken Media, a software development firm with offices in Singapore and Sri Lanka and Business Test Methods, an innovative aptitude testing firm

He said winning the Spirit of Enterprise award was exciting but also grounding: “When you are an entrepreneur it feels like the race never ends. This has made us stop and pause for thought.”

Speaking about Ireland’s education system, he said the country has many advantages, including the presence of dream employers, the English language medium of instruction and the relative safety and cleanliness of Ireland as a place to spend several years.

However, he said a challenge for Ireland is to have its institutions seen as ranked equally with educational institutions globally.