Poni Group Sdn Bhd

2021

Asia's Most Promising SMEs

Poni Group Sdn Bhd

Asia's Most Promising SMEs

2021

about Poni Group Sdn Bhd

Dark Horse

Poni gallops to success. 

Poni Group recently incorporated in February 2020 in Brunei. The owners, Mohd Tahsin Wong Abdullah (Bruneian Permanent Resident) and Anna Aziz (Bruneian), are co-owners of Poni Group Sdn Bhd. The subsidiary businesses under the Poni Group include Poni Divers, Poni Adventures, Poni Marine, Poni Tec, Poni Homestay, ASTARI and their affiliated non-profit arm, Poni Foundation.

Their nature of business is exceedingly varied due to its unique make-up and business model, and its organic growth from its start as a scuba diving club, Poni Dive Club in Brunei in 2008. Starting out in the sports and recreation industry as a dive club, it went on to become Poni Divers in 2009, a recreational diving center in the tourism, service and sports education sector in Brunei and in Bali. 

Since then, the Poni brand has grown in leaps and bounds expanding into marine engineering and subsea services in the offshore, maritime and construction industry, into the hospitality sector with an award-leading homestay accommodations, and into the events and adventure sector with outdoor corporate team building events, watersports activities & eco-tours.

Putting their experience together with expertise and optimal resources, they established a new corporate entity, Poni Group Sdn Bhd early last year with strong expansion plans to double its assets, staff and service capabilities by 2025 with branches in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. 

The Group is currently in the midst of its official launch for Poni Group Sdn Bhd and for Poni Marine, with plans to officially launch Poni Adventures and Poni Foundation in Q4 this year. Poni Divers, Poni Adventures, Poni Marine and Poni Homestay will continue to support Poni Group Sdn Bhd as core businesses. Currently, the company has 40 employees. 

Through the many services and products in their portfolio, Poni Group’s competitive advantage is their ability to offer a turnkey solution end-to-end, offering a single contact point for especially complex projects, with a focus on personal customer service with unparalleled customized solutions. By implementing their ISO9001 initiatives, they anticipate annual revenue to double and their staff roster to increase by 20 percent in line with an expansion of their facilities, with customer and staff satisfaction metrics to increase by 30 percent within the next six to 12 months.

On the community front, the Group’s Poni Foundation is their affiliated non-profit NGO with a strong focus on marine conservation, local empowerment, and civic engagement. Its official launch is set for late 2021. Initiatives include school outreach programs, and programs with opportunities for training, internship and education, thus increasing the profiles of Bruneians in the global arena. Disaster relief support in the region will also be one of the Foundation’s key points.

At its very heart, the vibrant collection of brands offers everyone adventure – as a career, as a leisure activity and most importantly, as an unforgettable experience. Crossing sectors and industries with a singular goal, adventure is what makes their business novel. Poni Group has been the pioneer and innovator of adventure activities by the sea in Brunei since 2008. 

The success that they have achieved means that today, over 38,000 people, both locally and internationally have enjoyed outdoor adventure activities by the sea, either as a career or as a leisure activity, and are getting more out of life. The Poni brands provide the unique opportunity to create positive change, to grow business and to achieve their purpose of making adventure part of everyone’s everyday lives. 

Some of the accolades that Poni Group has received over the year include Best Maritime Activities Company 2021 by APAC Insider, ASEAN SMEs Excellence – Growth under ASEAN Business Awards 2020 and Best Watersports & Adventure Tours Agency 2021 – Brunei by LUX Life magazine.

“Following one’s passion doesn’t always result in a singular drive for one point of success. In Poni Group’s case, the company builds on different touchpoints and unifies them into a remarkable integrated experience, capitalizing internal economies of scale, and delivering well-rounded leisure experiences.”

Shanggari Balakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer, MORS Group

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