Ian Alexander Ang Zheng Wei (born ) is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an entrepreneur and businessman. He is the co-founder and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

gaming chair A gaming chair is a type of chair designed for the comfort of gamers. They differ from most office chairs in having high backrest designed to support the upper back and shoulders. They are also more customizable: the armrests, back, lumbar suppor ...

company

Secretlab Secretlab is a Singaporean furniture company established by Ian Ang and Alaric Choo in 2014. It primarily designs and manufactures gaming chairs. History Secretlab was founded as a startup company in December 2014 by former professional esport ...

Career

In December 2014, while enrolled in an Information Systems undergraduate course, Ang partnered with fellow competitive

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

player Alaric Choo to found the

startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

company

, which would design and produce

s. According to Ang, he decided to venture into the gaming chair industry because he could not find a chair "that would be comfortable, functional, look good and have a local warranty". Ang became the company's

(CEO), overseeing engineering, marketing, and product strategy, while also adopting the informal ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

''-inspired corporate title of "Protector of the Realm". With a starting capital of S$50,000 derived from his and Choo's personal savings, Secretlab quickly found success and reached a reported market capitalisation of S$200300 million in August 2019. In 2020, Secretlab sold its millionth chair.

Personal life

Born around 1992 in Singapore, Ang was the second of two children. While his parents tended to their

automobile repair shop An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians. Types Automotive garages and repair shops can be divided into following categor ...

, he spent much of his childhood in

Chong Pang Chong Pang () is a housing estate located in the subzone of Yishun West along the Sembawang–Yishun boundary in the town of Yishun, Singapore. It was named after the former Chong Pang village. It has precincts of Neighbourhood 1, part of Neighbo ...

with his aunt. He attended Chongfu Primary School and Orchid Park Secondary School, later graduating from

Ngee Ann Polytechnic Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1963, the polytechnic is renowned for its business programmes. History Ngee An ...

with a diploma in business studies. In his teenage years, Ang was also a competitive esports player who won a regional ''

StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...

'' competition. In June 2021, Ang spent S$36 million on a bungalow near the

Singapore Polo Club The Singapore Grounds, or better known as Singapore Polo Club is a varied sports centre in Singapore. It is one of the oldest grounds in Singapore. History Polo was introduced to Singapore by officers of the King's Own Royal Regiment who were s ...

, as well as S$15 million on a triplex flat at Leedon Residence near Farrer Road.

Recognition

Ang was listed in the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2018. In November 2020, he was named Singapore's Entrepreneur of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year for consumer products by

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewaterh ...

, becoming the award ceremony's youngest-ever winner. The same year, Ang was nominated for the Singaporean of the Year award presented by ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ang, Ian Living people 1992 births 21st-century Singaporean businesspeople Esports businesspeople Businesspeople in manufacturing