Vikash Dhanuka

Early in my career, I was an entrepreneur, part of the founding team of several startups including 2Coms Consulting Pvt. Ltd., and Vida Technologies where I was responsible for setting up and managing the telecom trading business.

Today, I have created and scaled up startups to help them achieve their vision, and steered Sing Fuels into becoming a leading bunkering services provider.

I was recently awarded “Executive of Year – Oil and Gas” in the Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards. The award was in recognition of these achievements as CEO helming Sing Fuels: the company’s rapid growth from USD121m in 2017 to over USD400m in 2021; winning the prestigious Enterprise 50 award for three consecutive years; and the company’s international expansion within a short span of time into many countries including the US, UK, UAE and South Africa.

Years ago, my father had shared a mantra which I still hold close to my heart – stay humble, yet stay hungry. With this in mind, I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur and start my own business. However, with only a mantra and no knowledge, I could only see myself failing in the long run. Since I was young, I knew that having a good education was essential. With Singapore consistently placed in the top ranks for its education system and the country being the gateway to Asia, I decided to pursue my Masters at the world-renowned National University of Singapore. The NUS EMBA provided me with a learning experience beyond the classroom. Together with my course mates who came from diverse backgrounds, we were given opportunities to build global networks and conduct cross-cultural learnings. These experiences have taught me how to work with people from different culture groups and form long-lasting relationships. The course also trained me in basics of business management including operations, human resource, marketing and finance. These knowledge and skills had a great impact on my entrepreneurial journey and gave me a boost on how to better communicate, strategise and motivate my employees.