Singapore startup Kluje.com facing entrepreneur icons Branson and Wozniak as judges in global technology talent competition

Singapore
startup Kluje.com facing entrepreneur icons Branson and Wozniak as judges in
global technology talent competition

Awarded ‘Best Start Up’ South East Asia at ‘Talent
Unleashed’ just six months after setting up

Singapore, 24 July 2014 –Jamey Merkel,
CEO and Co-Founder of Kluje.com –pronounced
“KLOO-JAY”—an online service platform that helps homeowners and agents find
better contractors, has recently been awarded as the regional winner for
the Best Start Up Award for South
East Asia at the Talent Unleashed Awards.

The Talent Unleashed Awards is a technology-based
accolades program developed by global IT&T recruitment and technology services
specialist, Talent International, and judged locally by Patrick Grove, CEO and
Founder of Catcha Group, as well as Joel Neoh, Head of Groupon in Asia Pacific.

The award aims to discover and support
extraordinary technology talent in the Asia Pacific region that shows potential
to change the world by revolutionising industries and driving innovation.

Said Sir
Richard Branson, “The
Talent Unleashed Awards program reminds me of how important it is to bring out
the best in people – something I’ve always been passionate about. It’s not just
the individual’s responsibility to shine, it’s our responsibility to foster
growth and this is certainly true in the technology sector.”

Started with his initiative to provide
an easy way to find reliable and professional contractors in Singapore, Kluje.com
founders Jamey Merkel and Andrew Esmonde-White established Kluje.com in late
2013. In just six months it showed rapid and dynamic growth, recognized by
being named one of Singapore’s top 20
startups by Singapore Business Review
and also being named a top 50 startup in Asia (out of 500) at Echelon 2014.  

Shared Jamey, “It
is such an honor to be awarded as the best startup in Talent Unleashed in South East Asia. I believe technology has a big
role in driving social change. I hope Kluje.com’s participation in Talent Unleashed will encourage more
technology professionals as individuals as well as startups to keep innovating
to make our society better.”

The Talent Unleashed regional winners will next
be judged in a final round by global judges Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the
Virgin Group and Steve Wozniak, Apple Co-Founder, to win a five-day business-mentoring
workshop at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa in November
this year.

Steve Wozniak praised
the local start up scene,  “When we think of great startups and
where they began, you can’t help but look towards the United States and Silicon
Valley where I first started, and the history-making achievements there. But
more and more we’re seeing interesting startups flourish outside of Silicon
Valley in places such as the UK and India but also in Israel, New Zealand,
Singapore, Finland, and Brazil to name just some”.

Along with the
countdown to the finals, Kluje.com is not resting on its laurels but moving its
business to the next level by preparing to develop a
mobile app for homeowners, property agents, facility managers and contractors
to manage jobs and bids on the go. The app will be built in-house by technology startup accelerator, GHX, and will be launched shortly.

The final
winners for the Talent Unleashed Awards
will be revealed concurrently at events taking place in Auckland, Sydney, Hong
Kong and Singapore on July 31st 2014.