Hong Kong investors contemplate "Silicon Harbour"

During his keynote speech at the The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Investors' Forum in Hong Kong yesterday, Simon Galpin, director general of the government agency InvestHK, described how the special administrative region was developing into a hub for Asia's tech start-ups.

"We have been watching and noticing how the private sector infrastructure of startups and entrepreneurs is rapidly developing," he said. "There seems to be one co-working space opening up almost every week in Hong Kong - the amount of space at these centers has grown by 1000% over the last 18 months - there is real momentum building up."

He added that Hong Kong still had a long way to go before it could be compared to places like London, New York or Silicon Valley, but said it had reached a turning point.

However, during the first panel of the day, titled "Building Silicon Harbor," investors said they were wary about drawing too many parallels between Hong Kong and other regions, especially Silicon Valley.

"If Hong Kong is to be a successful entrepreneurial center it is unlikely to follow the Silicon Valley pattern, said Doug Glen, a Hong Kong-based angel investor and chairman of financial intelligence firm Aidyia. "It will not be about semiconductors and IT equipment but is more likely to be based on something along the lines of financial technology - something that will take advantage of the natural strengths of Hong Kong."

He added that while the best practices of Silicon Valley - such as mentorship - could be applied in Hong Kong, it would be a long time before one could witness the critical mass that has resulted in the kind of entrepreneurial ecosystem seen in the Valley

Yesterday's event was the first of its kind organized by TiE in Hong Kong as part of its Global Launch Week. TiE is a non-profit organization founded in Silicon Valley, which fosters entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, and education. It has 13,000 members in 57 chapters across 14 countries.

The event comes two weeks after InvestHK announced 380 ventures from Hong Kong and overseas had entered its StartmeupHK Venture Program, which launched in July.

Twelve of these applicants will be selected to participate in StartmeupHK Week from December 4-7. These finalists will be provided with access to business partners, financial capital and marketing opportunities. They will also compete to win free advisory services as wells as free work and retail space provided by sponsors and program partners.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Venture
• Early-stage
• Hong Kong (China)
• Venture
• seed