In front of 850 guests at a black-tie dinner on the South Perth foreshore, internet entrepreneur Zhenya Tsvetnenko was last night named First Amongst Equals winner in WA Business News annual 40under40 awards.
The award adds to a string of accolades for 30-year old Mr Tsvetnenko, a self-confessed 'techie' who mastered computer assembly language at the age of 12.
He says his most significant achievement has been setting up the world's first commercial enterprise to achieve the delivery and billing of text alert services to a user's mobile telephone on a mass scale.
The Zhenya Group of Companies specialises in the delivery of text alerts such as horoscopes, games, music and other data through SMS and MMS technology.
Key to the group's success was Mr Tsvetnenko's development of a gateway technology that allows for rapid delivery of those services from third party aggregators to telecommunication networks around the world.
Pioneering the use of Google's Adwords service as an online marketing tool also played a part in the group's commercial success.
Mr Tsvetnenko is focused on extending his services to new geographic markets, has acquired 50 per cent of a social media business and is investing in multiple research and development programs.
He has also become an active supporter of charities, particularly the Muscular Dystrophy Association of WA.
Mr Tsvetnenko was presented with his award by Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, pictured with WA Business News executive chairman Elton Swarts and representatives from award sponsor Singapore Airlines.
As the First Amongst Equals winner, Mr Tsvetnenko's prizes include a Tiffany & Co crystal trophy and business class tickets around the world, courtesy of Singapore Airlines.
Full coverage of the 40under40 awards, including profiles of all the winners, is in this week's edition of WA Business News.
