Hong Kong pledges to foster local start-up ecosystem

“To successfully promote innovation, the government must be ‘accelerator’ and ‘promoter.’ In the meantime, we must combine the strengths of all sectors,” Carrie Lam (pictured), Hong Kong’s chief executive, told a start-up event organized by think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation on Wednesday.

The territory's budget for the coming year - announced last month - earmarked about HK$50 billion ($6.4 billion) for investment in technology, with a focus on biotechnology, artificial intelligence, smart cities, and financial technology. This compares to HK$10 billion for the current year.

As part of these efforts, annual government sponsorship for Cyberport's incubation scheme will rise from HK$330,000 to HK$500,000. A further HK$200,000 will go to start-ups that have completed Cyberport and HKSTP's programs so they can conduct market research. In addition, about HK$10 billion of the total will be given to HKSTP for the construction of R&D infrastructure, improving existing operations, and hiring talent.

There are plans to add to the technology ecosystem by forming two research clusters, one for healthcare and the other for AI and robotics. Another HK$10 billion will be put to this purpose with a view to attracting more well-recognized international institutions and technology companies to Hong Kong.

Other initiatives include HK$500 million for start-ups through the Innovation & Technology Fund and subsidies for companies hiring post-doctoral tech graduates. 

Our Hong Kong Foundation used the event to present awards to six entrepreneurs for their contributions to the local start-up ecosystem. The winners were: Alex Kong, founder of online payment company TNG Wallet; Joe Lee, co-founder of ride-hailing app Kuaidi Dache (now known as Didi Chuxing); Zexiang Li, chairman of drone maker DJI; Steven Lam, co-founder of logistics business Gogovan; Denies Lo, co-founder of healthcare start-up Xcelom; and Simon Loong, founder of fintech specialist WeLab.

“All these companies are targeting global markets and some of them have become or are about to become ‘unicorns’ [companies valued at $1 billion or more]. What makes me feel more delighted is that about half of the winners were nurtured by Cyberport or Science and Technology Parks Corporation,” added Lam.

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