EY Announces Josh Matthews of Apkudo as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Mid-Atlantic Award Finalist

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are shaping the future

BALTIMORE, April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that CEO and Co-Founder Josh Matthews of Apkudo was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2024 Mid-Atlantic Award finalist. The Mid-Atlantic program celebrates entrepreneurs from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize sectors and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.

Josh was one of 30 regional entrepreneurs selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

"I am humbled to make the list of finalists. I congratulate each finalist because I know what it takes to build a company that creates lasting impact for an industry and its customers and employees," says Josh. Apkudo operates in the complex supply chain for connected devices. With the accelerated pace of technology innovation, customers must assess whether to resell, repair, or recycle millions of phones, laptops, tablets, and wearables each year. We maximize device value, minimize labor costs and reduce waste with a suite of decision-support and operating tools. Businesses often prioritize efficiency and cost-effectiveness to process the journey from device trade-in to resale of secondary devices. Apkudo recognizes purpose does not have to be sacrificed for performance.

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 20 during a special celebration and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In Mid-Atlantic, sponsors also include regional Platinum sponsor ADP, regional Gold sponsors Cooley and DLA Piper, and regional Silver sponsor Kelly Benefits Strategies.

About Apkudo

Headquartered in Baltimore, MD, with offices around the world, Apkudo helps companies managing connected devices to maximize device value, minimize labor costs, and reduce e-waste. Apkudo's Circular Industry Platform provides a full suite of decision-support and operating tools: automated testing and grading systems, device lifecycle management, and resale market integration. As a result, Apkudo customers always have the answer to the question, "What should I do with this device right now?".

About Entrepreneur Of The Year^®

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year^® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum^® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year^® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Contact: Kristen Barry, kristen.barry@apkudo.com 

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SOURCE Apkudo