# Jeffrey Tiong

> Jeffrey Tiong is the Malaysian founder and CEO of Singapore-founded Patsnap, a software business helping intellectual property and research teams use patent and technical information. His NUS overseas internship inspired the company in 2007; its growth brought early hiring setbacks, a global organisation and a later focus on specialised AI agents. He is known for candid accounts of those setbacks and a life-story presentation used in senior recruitment.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Patsnap
- **Organizations:** Patsnap
- **From:** Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
- **Nationality:** Malaysian
- **Education:** Bioengineering, National University of Singapore, Study through the NUS Overseas Colleges work-study programme; not a verified Wharton degree, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Singapore overall winner and Analytics Intelligence category winner., SCS IT Leaders Award, 2019., The Software Report Top 50 SaaS CEOs, 2020.

## Career timeline

- **2005-2006** — Participated in NUS Overseas Colleges in Philadelphia, undertaking patent-related internship work and studying at Wharton.
- **2007** — Graduated from NUS and founded Patsnap in Singapore with a S$55,000 student startup grant.
- **2008** — Moved the early business to Suzhou, China, to extend limited resources.
- **2010** — Received funding from Accel-X and NUS Enterprise; rapid hiring and product failure prompted a contraction.
- **2012** — Patsnap Global Patent Analytics Database launched.
- **2018** — Won EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Singapore and the Analytics Intelligence category; introduced the lifeline exercise into senior recruitment.
- **2019** — Received the SCS IT Leaders Award and represented Singapore at EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year.
- **2020** — Recognised in The Software Report’s Top 50 SaaS CEOs.
- **2021** — Patsnap announced US$300 million in Series E funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent Investment.
- **2025** — Returned to NUS as a commencement guest speaker; EY recorded Patsnap exceeding US$100 million annual recurring revenue.
- **2026** — Patsnap announced enhanced cooperation with ASEAN IP offices and reported serving over 18,000 organisations.

## Achievements

- EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018 Singapore overall winner and Analytics Intelligence category winner.
- SCS IT Leaders Award, 2019.
- The Software Report Top 50 SaaS CEOs, 2020.
- Fortune 40 Under 40, 2022, as recorded in EY’s profile.
- Led Patsnap through its US$300 million Series E round in 2021.
- Patsnap exceeded US$100 million annual recurring revenue, as recorded in EY’s 2025 profile.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — On 13 July, Patsnap announced participation in cooperation with ASEAN IP offices, Questel and WIPS involving regional IP data and AI-assisted tools; its release reported 18,000+ customer organisations.
- **2025-07** — NUS listed Tiong among its 2025 College of Design and Engineering commencement guest speakers.
- **2025-04** — In a 22 April HSG interview, Tiong discussed specialised AI agents, customer workflows and local adaptation in global management.
- **2024-12** — Appeared on Vertex’s Hard Truths podcast to discuss leadership, feedback and building teams.

## Links

- Website: https://www.patsnap.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreytiong/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/jeftiong
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.tiong.50

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeffrey-tiong
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-13