Infinera CEO Jagdeep Singh Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year
July 21 2008 - 1:57PM
Marketwired
SUNNYVALE, CA President and CEO Jagdeep Singh has received the
2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year� Award for
networking and communications in the Northern California program.
According to Ernst & Young, the award recognizes outstanding
entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing
businesses in Northern California. Mr. Singh was selected by an
independent panel of judges, and the award was presented at a gala
event at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel on June 21, 2008.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Singh told the audience of more
than 450 guests that he was honored to receive the award and
recalled Infinera's beginnings: "Our goal was to develop a
disruptive technology, photonic integration, and use that to change
the fundamental economics of optical communications for our
customers. When we started the company, the experts told us it
couldn't be done. We didn't know if we could do it. But we knew
that if we could do it, we could change this industry forever." Mr.
Singh attributed Infinera's success to the quality of the employee
team, which he described as "world-class," and which has grown to
800 worldwide. He thanked his fellow co-founders, Drew Perkins and
David Welch, and added: "Every one of our employees plays a key
role every day in helping us achieve the success we have had so
far."
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program is one of
the most comprehensive, thorough, and respected programs of its
type in the world, involving several months of study of hundreds of
companies and entrepreneurs by a team of Ernst & Young
professionals, independent consultants and independent judges.
According to Ernst & Young, the program honors entrepreneurs
who have demonstrated exceptionality in such areas as innovation,
financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses
and communities. The team of judges includes previous winners of
the award. This year, Patrick Lo, who won the award in 2006 for his
achievements as CEO of leading networking solutions provider
NETGEAR�, served as a judge.
"Pure Entrepreneurial Spirit"
"Our panel carefully considered this year's nominees, and
Jagdeep stood out from the crowd for personifying pure
entrepreneurial spirit," Mr. Lo commented. "He truly defied the
odds, leading a team that developed a highly complex product that
is first of its kind. Despite technical uncertainties and
entrenched competitors, he took Infinera public, made it
profitable, and is now beating the competition. We commend Jagdeep
for his company's success, and are pleased to name him this year's
Entrepreneur Of The Year."
"Ernst & Young is pleased to honor outstanding business
leaders such as Jagdeep Singh," said Rick Fezell, Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur Of The Year Program Director for the Northern
California program. "Award recipients of the Entrepreneur Of The
Year award build leading businesses and contribute a great deal to
the communities around them. Their success helps our area grow
stronger."
Recent Product Awards
In June, Infinera products won a series of significant industry
awards. The organizers of trade show NXTcomm08 honored the new
Infinera optical line system ILS2 with an EOS Award, while in Japan
Interop Tokyo honored the Infinera DTN with a "Best in Show" award.
In the cable industry the Infinera DTN received a 4-Diamond rating
from industry publication Broadband Gear Report as a product "ahead
of its time."
Also at NXTcomm08, Mr. Singh was invited to deliver a keynote
speech. In his speech, he cited a lack of breakthrough innovation
in the telecom and networking industries in recent years and called
for a renewed focus on innovation to enable cost reduction and new
applications in Internet and telecom infrastructure.
About Infinera
Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to
telecommunications carriers worldwide. Infinera's systems are
unique in their use of a breakthrough semiconductor technology: the
photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Infinera's systems and PIC
technology are designed to provide optical networks with simpler
and more flexible engineering and operations, faster
time-to-service, and the ability to rapidly deliver differentiated
services without reengineering their optical infrastructure. For
more information, please visit www.infinera.com.
About the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards
Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most
prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The award makes a
difference through the unique way it encourages entrepreneurial
activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution
of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and
achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind,
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are
building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses,
recognizing them through regional, national and global awards
programs in more than 135 cities in 50 countries.
For further information Media: Deborah Porchivina Phone:
415-272-0943 Email: deborah@papr.com Investors: Bob Blair Tel.
(408) 716-4879 bblair@infinera.com
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