Of the 14 local firms to feature on the list published online on March 13, Ampersand Advisory ranks 7th, placing it in good company alongside the likes of CapBay, SpeedHome, Policy Street, Limitless Technologies and TMC Life Sciences.
Topping the overall list of 500 high-growth Asian companies is India’s Zypp Electric, a delivery platform for electric vehicles.
Ampersand thus has the distinction of being the only player from the local advertising and marketing industry, and is the youngest Malaysian company to feature, having been established in 2017.
Its co-founder and CEO, Sandeep Mark Joseph, credited his 65 staff for the achievement, and said the recognition would spur his team to “rededicate ourselves to our people and our clients”.
“Our mission remains to grow our clients’ sales, profitability and reputation. Our motto, ‘Business Results Now!’, is our north star and the key to our growth,” he said.
“We are fortunate to have the wholehearted support and guidance of our chairman Vincent Lee, a veteran in advertising and brand building, the lifetime president of the 4As and lead investor in Carsome, a homegrown unicorn.”
Ampersand is the third company with ties to Lee to have made the FT List, the other two previously being Carsome and payments platform Soft Space.
Ampersand Advisory, which marked its seventh year last month, won more than 68 awards in 2023 alone, including No. 1 Creative Usage and No. 1 Media Usage at the MARKies.
It also took the top prize in Dragons of Malaysia 2023, in addition to securing Campaign Asia’s Independent Malaysia Agency of the Year for five years in a row from 2019 to 2023.
Ampersand is also the Appies Asia Pacific Media Agency of the Year 2022, and last June was featured in Campaign UK’s special issue on the top 10 independent agencies in the world.
Some of Ampersand Advisory’s clients include Alliance Bank, Allianz Insurance, Coway, Etika, Nando’s, Drypers, and Tena.
Ampersand Advisory and the other Malaysian companies to feature on this list seem to be bucking the odds as, according to the World Bank, East Asia’s developing economies are generally expected to grow at one of the lowest rates since the 1960s.