Singapore-based HealthTech company, Plano appoints Singaporean as its new CEO
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE, January 15, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SINGAPORE, January 15, 2024. The Board of Directors at Plano are pleased to announce that Yongqiang (John) Cao will succeed Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani as the company’s new CEO from the 1st of March 2024.
John currently holds the position of General Manager of Plano in China, where he established a diverse and talented team, localised Plano’s products to meet China’s consumer needs, and successfully initiated the commercialisation of Plano’s myopia management solutions. Under his leadership, the company was awarded two competitive government grants from the Hangzhou government, China: the 115-innovation project award and the 115-Foreign Talent award. John is a Singapore citizen who is based in China’s tech hub, Hangzhou. He is an MBA graduate from INSEAD, with over 15 years of experience in international strategic management and cross-border business.
Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, who is the founding Managing Director of Plano and adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS will uphold his position as Chair of the Plano Board & will take on the role of Advisor on Plano’s Science & Innovation Advisory. Associate Professor Dirani played an active role in the succession planning and has worked very closely with John since 2021, particularly with Plano’s expansion in China. Associate Professor Dirani remarked, “I am delighted for John, and I have every confidence that he will do a great job in leading the teams in Singapore and China. His achievements in setting up and leading Plano’s operations in China, most of it during the covid era makes him the clear choice to helm the company in its next stage of product and business growth.”
Upon his appointment, John said, “I am very grateful to be given this opportunity. Myopia is a huge concern for families in China, and while there is a lot of awareness for the problem, there is a high demand for science-based and effective management solutions. I look forward to working with the team to build Plano as the largest online platform in child vision health management, and to empower the child myopia management industry.”
Plano was established in late 2017 in Singapore. Plano is the first spin-off from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI)-Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) Ophthalmic Technologies Incubator Programme and the winner of Galen Growth’s World’s Most Innovative Healthtech Startup 2020 Award. Plano was formed to help families better manage their children’s myopia through user-friendly and science-based technological solutions and education. Myopia is serious eye disease that currently affects an estimated 2 billion people today, with the figure expected to increase to 5 billion (half the world’s population) by year 2050. The prevalence of myopia is on the rise worldwide, with reports in Singapore and urbanised regions of China showing that approximately 10% of preschoolers already have myopia and an alarming 8 in 10 children have myopia before leaving high school. The rise in myopia worldwide can be explained by the changes in our children’s environment, where they are spending excessive amounts of screen time on digital devices and less time outdoors.
Contact:
John currently holds the position of General Manager of Plano in China, where he established a diverse and talented team, localised Plano’s products to meet China’s consumer needs, and successfully initiated the commercialisation of Plano’s myopia management solutions. Under his leadership, the company was awarded two competitive government grants from the Hangzhou government, China: the 115-innovation project award and the 115-Foreign Talent award. John is a Singapore citizen who is based in China’s tech hub, Hangzhou. He is an MBA graduate from INSEAD, with over 15 years of experience in international strategic management and cross-border business.
Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, who is the founding Managing Director of Plano and adjunct Associate Professor at Duke-NUS will uphold his position as Chair of the Plano Board & will take on the role of Advisor on Plano’s Science & Innovation Advisory. Associate Professor Dirani played an active role in the succession planning and has worked very closely with John since 2021, particularly with Plano’s expansion in China. Associate Professor Dirani remarked, “I am delighted for John, and I have every confidence that he will do a great job in leading the teams in Singapore and China. His achievements in setting up and leading Plano’s operations in China, most of it during the covid era makes him the clear choice to helm the company in its next stage of product and business growth.”
Upon his appointment, John said, “I am very grateful to be given this opportunity. Myopia is a huge concern for families in China, and while there is a lot of awareness for the problem, there is a high demand for science-based and effective management solutions. I look forward to working with the team to build Plano as the largest online platform in child vision health management, and to empower the child myopia management industry.”
Plano was established in late 2017 in Singapore. Plano is the first spin-off from the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI)-Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) Ophthalmic Technologies Incubator Programme and the winner of Galen Growth’s World’s Most Innovative Healthtech Startup 2020 Award. Plano was formed to help families better manage their children’s myopia through user-friendly and science-based technological solutions and education. Myopia is serious eye disease that currently affects an estimated 2 billion people today, with the figure expected to increase to 5 billion (half the world’s population) by year 2050. The prevalence of myopia is on the rise worldwide, with reports in Singapore and urbanised regions of China showing that approximately 10% of preschoolers already have myopia and an alarming 8 in 10 children have myopia before leaving high school. The rise in myopia worldwide can be explained by the changes in our children’s environment, where they are spending excessive amounts of screen time on digital devices and less time outdoors.
Contact:
Mr. Kevin Tay
Plano Pte Ltd
kevin.tay@plano.co
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