Celebrating ambitious pioneers tackling our biggest challenges

Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that CEO Mahesh Rajasekharan of Cleo was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2022 Midwest Award finalist. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed.

Rajasekharan was selected by a panel of independent judges according to the following criteria – entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact – among other core contributions and attributes.

“I am humbled and honored to be one of the select few Finalists who are recognized today for leading high-achieving companies all across the Midwest,” Rajasekharan said. “It is especially meaningful for Cleo given 2022 marks our company’s 10-year anniversary of consistent innovation, talent development, and economic contributions to the greater Rockford area. As I reflect on the strong relationships we have with the customers, partners, and employees who’ve helped make Cleo successful, this honor from Ernst & Young energizes us to continue raising the bar for them and entrepreneurs everywhere.”

With headquarters in Rockford, Illinois and offices around the world, Cleo is the pioneer and global leader of the Ecosystem Integration software category and provider of the Cleo Integration Cloud platform. As a strategic partner to 4,100+ industry-leading companies, Cleo delivers business outcomes that create value through integration solutions that orchestrate the movement and integration of B2B enterprise data.

Cleo’s 350+ employees and more than 300 partners provide integration software and services to businesses in manufacturing, logistics and transportation, wholesale distribution and retail. Cleo’s platform gives customers strategic, “outside-in” visibility into the critical end-to-end business flows happening across their ecosystems of partners and customers, marketplaces, and internal cloud and on-premise applications. Cleo Integration Cloud helps companies drive business agility, accelerate onboarding, facilitate modernization of key business processes, and capture new revenue streams by reimagining and remastering their digital ecosystem through robust application, B2B, and data integration technologies.

Entrepreneur Of The Year: Next Steps

Regional award winners will be announced on June 14, 2022 at Offshore atop Chicago’s Navy Pier. The regional winners will then be considered by the National independent judging panel, and National awards will be presented in November at the Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2023.

For over 35 years, EY US has celebrated the unstoppable entrepreneurs who are building a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world for all. The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 10,000 US executives since its inception in 1986. Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners have exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other members of the entrepreneurial community in over 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank. In the Midwest, sponsors also include Becker Professional Education, Cresa Global, Inc., LaSalle Network and Marsh-McLennan.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year^®

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind.

It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. ey.com/us/eoy

About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping 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.

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Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

About Cleo

Cleo is an ecosystem integration software company focused on business outcomes, ensuring each customer’s potential is realized by delivering solutions that make it easy to discover and create value through the movement and integration of B2B enterprise data. Cleo gives customers strategic, “outside-in” visibility into the critical end-to-end business flows happening across their ecosystems of partners and customers, marketplaces, and internal cloud and on-premise applications. Our solutions empower teams to drive business agility, accelerate onboarding, facilitate modernization of key business processes, and capture new revenue streams by reimagining and remastering their digital ecosystem through robust application, B2B, and data integration technologies. For more information, visit www.cleo.com or call +1.815.282.7695.

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