Keywell, a tech veteran, was named EY World Entrepreneur of the Year for 2019 on 8 June 2019. He was selected from 57 finalists representing 47 countries at a gala ceremony held in Monaco.
The serial entrepreneur, who previously co-founded daily deals website Groupon, is the third American to take home the award since it was established 19 years ago.
Keywell was recognized for founding Uptake Technologies, a Chicago-headquartered predictive analytics software company. Uptake makes software that monitors and analyzes industrial equipment to improve the performance and maintenance of the machinery.
The company works with organizations across multiple industries to help them determine when a piece of equipment is not performing well or is about to break down. It analyzes data from sensors on equipment and then uses data-science models to predict problems before they occur. Customers include the U.S. Army, American Red Cross, Caterpillar and Rolls-Royce.
“I think it is very important and valuable to recognize entrepreneurs not for their gratification, but for the opportunity to inspire others,” says Keywell about Saturday’s EY award celebration. “Entrepreneurs believe in creating, not accepting. They believe in possibility over simply reality.”
Among the finalists were YPO members José Shabot Cherem, Founder of Quiero Casa; Urban Edenström, CEO of Stronghold Invest AB (publ); Ridhwan Kahn, CEO of Mobicel; and Šimon Šicko, CEO of Pixel Federation, s.r.o.
Read more about the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award here.
EY is YPO’s strategic learning advisor.
