Hong Kong Startup Ecosystem ToolBox v.1

1. Introduction to the Startup Ecosystem
2. Startups in Hong Kong
3. Community builders
4. Government support & Universities
5. Incubator and Accelerator Programs
6. Competitions, events
7. Talent's corner
8. Co-working spaces
9. Venture Capital
10. Resources
11. References

W Hub is an online platform where Startups make meaningful connections to grow
their business.
W Hub's mission is supported by 3 main pillars:
- Community discovery,
- Jobs & Talent,
- Investors Connection.

The following report aims at sharing insights into the startup ecosystem in Hong Kong. It is based
on external information, our observations and opinions. It is not exhaustive and cannot be
considered as such. We do not receive financial incentives from the organisations, startups,
companies or individuals listed in this report.
This report has been prepared in good faith and with no intention to promote or diminish certain
organisations, startups, companies or individuals in particular.
We see this report as a tool to raise awareness and help educate external
observers about the who and what composing the startup ecosystem in Hong Kong.
We offer our sincere apologies if we hurt anybody and will treat all enquiries sent to hello@whub.io.

2.2 billion HKD GDP (2014)
$310,113 HKD GDP / capita (2014)
2.8% GDP Annual Growth Rate (08/2015)
2.5% Annual Inflation (08/2015)
3.9 million Labour Force (2014)
Since 1997 and the end of 155 years of British rule,
Hong Kong has been trying to remain independent
from China.
Hong Kong is part of China, but a Special
Administrative Region (S.A.R.), same as Macau.
Both retain their own capitalist economies, while
the rest of China uses the socialist system. Under
this same principle, each of the three regions
continues to have their own political system,
currency, legal, economic and financial affairs,
including external relations with foreign countries.
One Country - Two Systems
Hong Kong's gross domestic product has grown
180 times between 1961 and 1997. Furthermore,
the GDP per capita rose by 87 times within the
same time frame. Its economy size is slightly
bigger than Israel and Ireland.

- As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong's service-oriented
economy is characterised by its low taxation, almost free port trade and well established
international financial market, built on a long history of trade & commerce.
- Hong Kong holds the first rank in the World as freest Economy. Starting a business is easy, so is
doing business easy and safe.
- Startups are defined by disruption and growth. Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to allow fast and
high scalability: Its ultra-connected population allows to test quickly and the proximity to the Pearl
River Delta (Manufacturing & Supply facilities) and half of the world's population provides
impressive growth potential.
- The Startup scene has been booming in the past 3 years, with an increasing
number of co-working spaces, accelerators / incubators, startups, events, and
entrepreneurship associations at local universities.

- 3rd "easiest place to do business"
- 8th in the world for "easiness to start a
business" (based on the no. of procedures, time, cost
and minimum capital needed to start a business)
- 4th in simplicity of paying taxes (only 3
payments/year are required in Hong Kong)
- 7th in overall global competitiveness
(based on macroeconomic environment, health &
primary education, goods market efficiency, labour
market efficiency, financial market development
and innovation)
- 1st for "freest economy"
(based on 5 areas: Size of government in the
economy, legal system and property rights, sound
money, freedom to trade internationally and
regulation.
- 1st in protecting minority investors & on the
extent of conflict of interest regulation index and
shareholder governance index
- 3rd least corrupted economy in Asia
- 11th out of 97 economies in IP protection
- 15th in patent application
(13,916 patent applications)
Easy & safe

Internet Speed
. 240% mobile penetration rate
. 1st smartphone penetration for Asia
Mobile
. 2nd internet speed 94.8Mb/s (2015)
. 1st Network Readiness Index in Asia
Social Network
. 4.4 M users with a Facebook account - 54% population
. 3.1M daily active users on Facebook
. 1M LinkedIn members - 13.5% population
Internet
. 3.5 bln estimated e-commerce market size
. $535 average annuel spend / user
. 96% of HK's internet users browse it daily (average 30 min / day)
. 17,000+ free wifi hotspots across the city
Test quickly: an ultra-connected population

5 hours flight time from half of
the world's population.
Close to Shenzen and the Pearl River Delta,
the manufacturing hub of China
and the world.
Great Demand Great Supply
Scale Big

Though still relatively young and small, Hong Kong ranks within the top 5 fastest
growing startup ecosystems in the world based on 5 areas:
Performance, funding, market reach, talent and startup experience.
Exponentially growing ecosystem

Hong Kong's startup ecosystem is very diverse in multiple aspects:
1) Benefiting from its long history in international trade, as logistic hub and financial centre, startups
are disrupting in a huge variety of industries and sectors.
2) In terms of gender diversity, it is 2nd in the world for the number of women entrepreneurs (45% of
entrepreneurs are women)
3) In terms of origin of founders, half are Hong Kong locals, the other 50% being made up by overseas,
Mainland China and returning founders.
A very diverse ecosystem
source W Hub 2016

Mehdi Ferradj, Kawa
Augustin Ceyrac, Easyship
Vincent de Saint Exupery, LCCS
Tania Cheung, Miss Runner
Anita Chan, Sam the Local
"People in this city are clued into global trends; people are eager to hear and try new
ideas. We have fantastic support structures in Hong Kong to facilitate a start up [...],
there is always a channel available to get help from."
"People are super active, fast and ambitious. It is also a comfortable legal
and tax environment and fortunately a significant startup community is
now growing actively."
"Shipping out to international customers without the need to pay tax had been a huge
cost saving advantage. Sourcing is also a benefit since majority of mills from China had
their head office/showroom set up in Hong Kong."
"Hong Kong is a very business focused city where everyone seems either involved in a
startup or side business, or thinking about starting one! The proximity with Shenzhen
is also key for sectors like IoT and eCommerce. "
"1. Supportive startup community - 2. Diverse background - 3. Very open with sharing
input - 4. Accessibility and number of events - 5. Helpful organisations".
The Entrepreneurs' Voice

2. Startups in
Hong Kong
Even though Hong Kong doesn’t have its unicorn yet, we firmly believe that
the city is capable of nurturing successful startups. As shown before in this
presentation, HK has a reliable infrastructure, an access to resources
(R&D, talent, money), a proximity with large pools of customers and a
strong desire for success among the new generation.
While the number of exits, amount of money raised or startups growth rate
cannot prove the success of an ecosystem alone, it's important to note that
HK is a place where to expect, and look for, exciting (ad)ventures!

Divide is a dual-persona platform, which separates iOS and android devices into
two personas for work and play.
Divide, acquired by Google in May 2014 for US$ 120M.
ZNAP is a global mobile business platform developed by Hong Kong-based
company MPayMe.
ZNAP has been acquired by Powa Technologies in June 2014 for US$ 75M.
Lucibel designs, produces and distributes LED lighting solutions for commercial,
industrial and residential applications.
Lucibel strengthens its net equity by € 17 million and goes public on Alternext
Paris on July 2014.
Alive not dead is an online community dedicated to helping artists.
Alive not Dead, acquired by mig33 in February 2014
Plukka is an international retailer of curated collections of designer fine jewelry.
Went Public on Dec 3, 2015 / ASX:PKA
Previously raised $1M in 1 Round of funding from Fresco Capital

iClick interactive is a leading integrated advertising technology
company connecting worldwide advertisers with the audience in China.
Its proprietary Programmatic Marketing Platform (“PMP”) is the first of
its kind in China that truly integrates search, display, mobile and social
media advertising.
US$ 60M raised in Dec
2014 from offices around
the world inc.
Bertlesmann, Sunitomo,
SSG Capital and OTTO.
6waves is a leading publisher of social and mobile games, partnering
with developers all over the world to bring the best games to their users
on a gaming network.
Raised $52.59M in 2
Rounds from Insight
Venture Partners and
Nexon
CompareAsiaGroup is Asia’s leading and fastest growing financial
comparison platform. CompareAsiaGroup offers a comprehensive
overview across various financial products, and is a one-stop solution
for price comparison needs in Asia.
Raised $46M in 3
Rounds from 7 Investors
$40M in serie A on April
2015
fintech
GAMES
advertiSing
Logistics
GoGoVan is a delivery-van reservation and renting service. It allows
customers to request a van and driver for short deliveries or
transportation through a mobile app.
Raised $26.54M in 4
Rounds from
Centurion, Cyberport,
Joe (Yi-Zhou) Chen,
Renren Inc., Zhemin Hu

WeLab is creating seamless online and mobile lending experiences for
the Asian market. The company operates www.WeLend.hk, the first
online social (or peer-to-peer) lending platform in Hong Kong.
$20M in 2 Rounds from 7
Investors including
Access Industries, Iconiq
Capital, Sequoia
Capital, Shou Zi Chew
Lalamove connects hundreds of thousands of customers with tens of
thousands of professional van, motorcycle, lorry and truck drivers.
Founded in 2013 as EasyVan in Hong Kong, lalamove is the leading
last-minute intra-city delivery technology in Asia.
$20M in 2 Rounds from
appWorks Ventures,
Crystal Stream
Capital, Geek Founders,
MindWorks Ventures
Logistics
fintech
fintech
fintech
8 Securities is a leading online & mobile investing service in Asia.
They serve a large customer base with offices in Hong Kong and
Tokyo.
investors including
China Growth,
Capital, Leitmotiv
Private Equity
InvestLab provides its customizable MIX trading platform through a
software as a service model to retail brokerages. By using MIX, brokers
can access any market around the world while trading any equity,
option, or commodity available.
$10M in 1 round from
Citi Ventures and
Vantage Point Capital
Partners in 2012

Logistics
mobile
mobile
Acquired Go'N'Live in
08-2015
$8.1M raised in 2 rounds
from 7 investors
Boxful is an on-demand storage service dedicated to convenient,
affordable, and secure self-storage. Users manage their belongings
from their mobile devices or computers.
Exicon's AppBoard helps to Build, Manage and Promote mobile
applications through a cloud-based platform.
$8M Series A on August
15, 2015
HotelQuickly is a last-minute hotel booking app in Asia Pacific,
currently covering 200+ destinations in 15 countries.
$5.66M in 2 Rounds
from Boon Hwee Koh,
GREE, William E.
Heinecke
AMP Credit Technologies (“AMP”) enables banks and other business
service providers to profitably offer equitable and transparent short-
term unsecured loans to their under-served small business customers
- in both developed and emerging markets.
fintech
$5M raised
advertizing
Automated data collection and geographic analysis for industry to
quantify risks, make decisions and prevent disasters.
$4M in 3 Rounds from
Fresco Capital

real estate
social media
health tech
Spacious is an online marketplace connecting buyers and tenants
with properties throughout Asia. Spacious differentiates itself by
combining a superior user experience with powerful analytical tools
and relevant content.
$3.5M in 2 Rounds
9GAG.TV is a website that features user-generated videos under
categories such as fail and prank, comedy, game, cute, movie and TV,
music, and more.
$2.8M in 2 Rounds from
8 Investors including
500 startups and Y
combinator
Prenetics is a DNA bio-technology company focused on providing
parents a higher level of pre-natal care which is highly accurate,
safe, and non-invasively.
$2.65M in 1 Round from
500 startups, Coent
Venture Partners, Joel
Neoh, SXE Venture
advertizing
MObile
Multichannel is a marketing solution bridging languages, currencies,
and regulatory barriers to deliver a message. Through differentiated
marketing channels across the globe, the message is delivered to
targeted clients effectively and efficiently.
Animoca Brands develops and publishes great mobile games based on
globally loved popular brands like Garfield, Doraemon etc.
$3.42M in 3 Rounds
from Cyberport Hong
Kong, Dmitry Fedotov,
Kevin Ng
US$3.5 raised

ecommerce
mobile
mobile
Grana is a fashion brand completely re‐imagined from the ground
up. Their mission is to create timeless wardrobe essentials made
from the world's best fabrics at the most disruptive prices ever seen.
Big Bloom Investment,
Bluebell Group, Golden
Gate Venture
Marketing automation software where users can quickly integrate
the latest Online-To-Offline technologies into their business so they
can: - Increase Revenue - Reduce waste - Create and automate
comprehensive end to end consumer experiences.
Snaptee is a mobile app that enables users to design personalized T-
shirts.
$2.1M in 2 Rounds
from Vectr Ventures
$1.95M in 3 Rounds
from 11 Investors
including Fresco
Capital, Yat Siu, SXE
Ventures, Big Bloom
Investment
entertainment
VidOn.me helps users manage all the multimedia resources at home,
so that users can access and play them on devices like TV, PC, iMac,
iPad, iPhone, Android phone, etc., in any corner of their home.
$2M Seed on
December 30, 2014

games
edutech
media
social media
Frenzoo is a mobile game startup creating a new class of 3D lifestyle
games for girls and women. The company’s offerings include the hit
Me Girl™ series, enjoyed by millions around the world.
Investors including
Fresco Capital,
Wavemaker Partners
1. Snap; 2. Ask; 3. Learn. Trusted by 20,000 students across Asia,
Snapask provides on-demand academic support from 1800 tutors,
from the convenience of your pocket.
Arthur Kho and SOSV
Notey features the best blogs on over 500,000 topics.
Hugo Barra, Ryan
Holmes, Shakil Khan,
Steve Kirsch
Lamplight’s platform analyzes billions of social conversations in
real-time to understand, target and influence Asian consumers.
AfterShip is a shipment tracking application for online retailers,
supporting USPS, FedEx, DHL, UPS, EMS & over 200 carriers.
Vectr Venture
Investors
Logistics

Swapit is a
marketplace to trade
wanted items nearby.
Lux TNT is a an online
platform selling the latest
items from 4 prominent
fashion weeks, and offers
tailoring services.
Popmap is an online
platform showcasing
products from local
stores.
Glamit is a beauty, fashion, and
female lifestyle technology
brand, developing customized,
eco-chic products for women.
Luxify.com is your online
destination for browsing,
buying and selling new,
vintage, and pre-owned luxury
goods.
HelperChoice is an
onlineplatform where
you can find the best
helper for your
household.
Enabling eCommerce
Cross-Border shipping
through technology.
Pelago's vision is to create
the next-generation
mobile-first social events
platform to attract the
best audiences for
organizers worldwide.

Monexo is an online
marketplace for peer-to-
peer lending.
Gatecoin is a regulated,
Money Service Operator-
licensed digital currency
exchange in Hong Kong.
Currenxie is a peer to peer
foreign exchange platform
that offers more
transparency.
WeConvene brings both the
buy side and sell side onto
a common platform.
FinTech
Hardware
EONIQ is the 1st mass
customization platform
for quality mechanical
watches.
Fight Heart Disease before
it strikes with the power of
big data analytics.
Soundbrenner builds the
world’s first wearable
smart device for
musicians.
uHoo develops indoor air
quality sensor.

US$ 95k
Muku Shuttr is a
bluetooth remote camera
control .
US$ 115k
Ambi Climate : The Smart
Add-On For Your Air
Conditioner.
US$ 160k
EzeeCube is an open source,
Apple TV®-like, entirely wireless
device that automatically syncs
and sorts your photos, videos and
contacts.
US$ 31k
Huzi puts new perspectives into
everyday objects by combining
functionality and artistic
sensibility.
US$ 220k
Soundbrenner builds the
world’s first wearable
smart device for
musicians.
US$ 296k
With Aumeo, you can tailor your
music to custom-fit your unique
hearing.

IoT refers to any smart interconnected devices (e.g. RFID, sensors, etc.) adopted by businesses to obtain
more visibility of the identification, location, and condition of products, assets, transactions, or even people.
The ultimate goal is to be able to drive more effective, timely business decisions or to improve customer
interactions.
The Hong Kong SAR Government has addressed the importance of IoT in its agenda. The 2014 Digital 21 has
recognized IoT as one of the latest technologies Hong Kong should adopt and champion, and the 2015 Policy
Address introduced a new initiative “Energizing Kowloon East” aiming to carry out a pilot study in that
district to examine the feasibility of developing a Smart City.
It's easy to associate Hong Kong with the finance industry.
Despite several FinTech accelerators being created recently (cf part 5), the number of FinTech startups
represent no more than 5% of the entire ecosystem.
Furthermore, the entire spectrum of "Finance" isn't well represented among startups: HK FinTech projects
tend to focus on Institutional markets rather than Retail. FinTech entrepreneurs would acknowledge that
with a population of only 8M habitants, HK doesn't have the same scalability opportunities than India or
Mainland China.

3. Community
builders
Startups can’t do it all alone!
We’ve seen over the past 4 years a great number of community builders
stepping up to create social links within the ecosystem. The continuous
success of offline events, mentoring opportunities and online community
platforms is a reliable marker that what the following people are doing is
making a lasting impact on entrepreneurs.
More connections + fast access to quality feedback and mentoring = higher
chances of success!

Ada Yip
43 Ventures -
Startup Weekend
ChangeMakers
Alan Chan
Vectr
Alexander List
Dim Sum Lab
Alexis Bautista
Creative Jam HK
Kokonuzz
Allison Baum
Fresco Capital
Ankit Seti
Startup Weekend
SpotHelp
Bay McLaughlin
Brinc
Ben Cheng
Internet Society
Hong Kong
Oursky Limited
Ben Crox
BarCamp
StartupCommune
Betty Wong
Google Eye Program

Casey Lau
StartupsHK
Web Summit
Cesar Harada
MakerBay / Protei
Charles Ng
InvestHK
Cynthia Cheung
StartupWeekend
Hackathon
David Baverez
Private Investor
Author
David Chung
Cyberport
Deepack Madnani
Paperclip
Derek Kwik
Venture Capital &
Private Equity
Elaine Tsung
Garage Society
Felix Lam
Red Chapel Advisors

Gene Soo
StartupsHK
Citymapper
Gino Yu
Hong Kong
Polytechnic University
Gregory So
Secretary for Commerce
and Economic
Developement Hong
Kong
Holger Bartel
Harbour Front HK
uforepublic Ltd.
Irene Chu
KPMG
Ivy Shum
TedxHK SMECC
James Munro Boon
UnLtd
43 Ventures
Jayne Chan
Startmeup HK
Jeffrey Broer
PostMortem
Jennifer Cheng
Investor - Writer

Joanna Cheung
Tuspark
Mart Van de Ven
Open Data
Jong Le
TEDx Hong Kong
RGL Ventures
Joshua Steimle
MWI - Forbes
Juliet O’halloran
Creative mornings
Lawrence Morgan
Nest
Matthew Rudy Jacobs
CodeaholicsHK
CodeConf
Michelle Buultjens
Blueprint
Michelle Sun
Women Who Code
First Code Academy
Paul Cheung
The Hong Kong
University

Peter Mok
Hong Kong Science
& Technology
Parks
Stephen Barnes
Hong Kong Visa
Centre
Ray Cheung
City University of
Hong Kong
Raymond Chu
HK Polytechnic
University
HK Design Centre
Scott Lawson
Sow Asia
Simon Squibb
Nest
Theodore Ma
Cocoon
maBelle
Timothy Yu
HKUAEC
snapask
Tytus Michalski
Fresco Capital
Yat Siu
Outblaze

Karena Belin
Business Development - Fund Raising - Marketing
Double diploma from ESSEC Business School in Paris / University of Manheim.
15 years for Procter & Gamble in Finance, Sales, Strategy and Management.
Mentor at Poly U Entrepreneurial Mentorship Network and StartupWeekend
Board member of WOW at the American Women’s Association.
Karen Farzam
Community Building - Fund Raising - Technology
Double engineering diploma from EPF (France) / ETS (Canada) - Master in International
Finance from HEC Paris.
6 years for JP Morgan Tokyo as a Exotic Equity Derivatives Trader.
Worked in a IoT Startup / Taught Web Development at General Assembly.
Co-Founder of Women Who Code HK - Speaker at International Conference.

Diane Mensah
Strategic Partnerships
Heather Lo
Community Officer
Graduated from Manchester University with a Bachelor in English Language and Literature
Worked in luxury fashion retail management in the UK for 8 years and 3 years at the UK
government Home Office overseas. Diane then joined General Assembly as the founding
Admissions Manager in the company’s opening year in Hong Kong.
Graduating with a B.A from Sun Yat-Sen University in Foreign Language Study.
Spent 2 semesters at the University of Valladodid (Spain).
Interned at Swire Properties.
Matthieu Bodin
Community and Fundraising Manager
Graduated with a BBA from Essec Business School in Paris.
Worked in the luxury industry and as project manager for a digital agency.
Organizer of Startup Weekend HK & DrinkEntrepreneursHK.
Co-directing the pre-accelerator Startup Next .

4. Government support
& Universities
Commencing to realise the importance of entrepreneurship on the HK
society, the government is consolidating the programs and organisations it
controls: More resources, more activities and more visibility. Laws are
being passed to make HK more attractive: New visa options, maintaining
the simplicity to start / do business and considering to allow certain
disruptions brought by tech startups.
Universities are joining the movement by creating new programs.

- Incu-Tech is an incubation
programme designed for technology
start-up companies.
- No equity stake
- Financial aid : max HKD 645,000
- 3 years program
- Electronics / Green Technology
/ Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) / Material and
Precision Engineering
- Incu-Bio is an incubation
programme designed for
biotechnology start-up companies
which need wet lab environment for
their operation.
- No equity stake
- 4 years program
- Therapeutics/ Personal Care
Chinese or Herbal Medicine /
Regenerative Medicines / Medical
Devices / Diagnostics
- Incu-App in an incubation
programme which aims to provide
support to web/ mobile application
technology start-ups.
- No equity stake
- 18 months program
- Web-based applications /
Smartphone-based applications /
PC/ internet/ smartphone/ console
games
HKSTP Incu-Tech HKSTP Incu-BIO HKSTP Incu-App
Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks

Cyberport Incubation Program
The Cyberport Incubation Programme offers
financial assistance, supports and services to
different incubatees.
- No equity stake
- 2 years max program
- ICT-related Areas
- HK Design Incubation is a programme to
nurture start-up companies in the design and
creative fields.
- No equity stake
- 2 years program
- Design
Cyberport Incubation
Program
HK Design Incubation
Programme

The University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology
The Hong Kong
Baptiste University
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong
Polytechnique
University
The Lingnan
University
City University of
Hong Kong

- IfE and J.C.DISI of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Good Seed Training and Funding Plan
- Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge
- Incubation Support
- Vice-Chancellor’s Cup of Student Entrepreneurship
- Business Entrepreneurship Support and Training Programme
- Micro Fund Scheme
- Tech Launchpad Fund Scheme
- Student Contest Support Fund
- Enterprises Limited
- Entrepreneurship Programme
- E-Academy
- HKUST One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition
- Technology Transfer Office
- Technology Startup Support Scheme
- HKSTPC-PolyU Tech Incubation Fund Scheme
The University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong Baptiste University
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Polytechnique University

5. Incubators and
Accelerator
Programs
HK used to have only a handful of Incubators and Accelerators a few years
ago. It has now a large number of these intense 3 to 6 months programs,
allowing the entrepreneurs to focus on their project while fundings, space,
mentoring and knowledge may be taken care of. Sometimes associated with
large MNCs or organisations depending on the government, Incubators and
Accelerators are educating a new breed of entrepreneurs.

Seed accelerators also known as startup accelerators are fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship
and educational components and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day.
While traditional business incubators are often government-funded, generally take no equity, and focus on biotech,
medical technology, clean tech or product-centric companies, accelerators can be either privately or publicly funded
and focus on a wide range of industries. - Wikipedia
- Brinc is an IoT program that
accelerates IoT startups from
concept to sustainable
commercialization.
- Take equity stake.
- 12 months program.
- 3 cities including Hong Kong and
Shenzen.
- Portfolio: 15 startups.
- FinTech Innovation Lab powered by
Accenture brings together young
FinTech companies with senior
executives from financial institutions
across Asia.
- Take equity stake.
- 12 weeks program.
- 3 cities including New York, London,
Hong Kong.
- < 10 startups per batch.
- SuperCharger is powered by Standard
Chartered, Baidu x APIStore and
TusPark Global Network.
- take equity stake: 30,000$ for 5%
- 12 weeks program.
- Based in Hong Kong.
Brinc
IoT / Hardware
FinTech Innovation Lab
FinTech
SuperCharger
FinTech

Blueprint
- B2B
NEST
- HealthCare Accelerator powered by AIA
- SmartCity Accelerator powered by Infinity
- FinTech Accelerator powered by Infinity - Blueprint is a mentor-driven
accelerator program powered by Swire.
- No equity stake
- 6 months program
- Based in Hong Kong
- Approximately 10 startups per batch
- Mentor-driven accelerator programs.
- No initial equity stake
-12 weeks program

- i2i, funded by JP Morgan, is an accelerator program designed to help businesses clarify their social
impact, improve their business model, and refine their pitch for investment..
- No equity stake
- Financial aid : none
- 3 months program
- social challenges / Environment
SOW Asia Incubation program

The Empowering Young Entrepreneurs (EYE)
Program is a year-long entrepreneurship program
launched by Google and Center for Entrepreneurship
of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2013. The
initiative is inspired by the budding entrepreneurial
environment in Hong Kong. .
- No equity stake
- 1 year max program
- Theme “Living in the Mobile-First World”
- Startup Next is an intensive five-week program that
gives your team the tools and mentorship needed to
navigate the early stages of building a startup.
- No equity stake
- Financial aid : none
- 5 weeks program
- Tech
Empowering Young Entrepreneur (EYE)Startup Next

- CoCoon Pitch Night (receive up to HKD 100,000 for the winning team)
- Asia Social Innovation Award (regional audience)
Startup competitions to validate / test / get feedback on your startup
Hackathons or events to start your own business
- Global Student Challenge (competition with international participants)
- HSBC Youth Business Award (validation from a world famous bank)
- International Startup Competition by TiE (compete at an international level at the second round)
- Pitch Perfect ( chance to gain funding from China or overseas investors )
- Seedstars world (international impact)
- Startmeup.hk (organised by InvestHK)
- YDC e-challenge (up to HKD 30,000 for the winning team)
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year by HKFYG (important organisation locally)
- Startup Weekend
- Angelhack

- Codeaholics (gatherings of developers)
- Barcamp (unconference to explore different tech topics)
- Creative Mornings (early morning interviews of "out of the ordinary" professionals)
- DigiMeet (meetup to learn about digital marketing)
- DrinkEntrepreneurs (monthly casual meetup)
- Friday Beer Bay (weekly casual meetup)
- Postmortem Conf (1 day conference with entrepreneurs explaining why they failed)
- Startup Grind (interviews of established entrepreneurs)
- TEDx HK (TED-style events)
- RISE HK (3 days conference with hundreds of startups and thousands of visitors)
- WebWednesday (interviews of entrepreneurs on the way up)
- Women Who Code HK (women web developer monthly gathering)

7. Talent's corner
A startup is composed of a team sharing the same mission and vision.
There are many incredibly talented people in Hong Kong and while it is
improving, many engineers would rather work at a larger corporation instead
of a startup. Getting your pool of talent right is therefore a continuous
challenge.
Don't underestimate the time and efforts required and hopefully the following
resources will help you along the journey.
Get started early, test fast and retain or move on!

W Hub has been the first to organize HK Tech & Startups Job Fair in Hong Kong in
collaboration with Garage Society.
With more than 500 talents, 80+ job opportunities and 20 startups, stay put for the next
one on W Hub.

of the startups are proactively looking to recruit talent
2 applications per job on average
The record is 21
3 talents contacted by startups per job post
35% developers and engineers;
15% sales and business developers;
12% marketers;
8% designers.
and 11% are internships
Date.today.prev_month
3
full time positions
source: W Hub
Date.today.prev_month
2

1. The Hub Wanchai
2. blueprint
3. Centre O Connect
4. CoCoon
5. Coffice
6. Cowork CHM
7. Cyberport Smart-Space
8. Dim Sum Labs
9. Fashion Farm Foundation (FFF)
10. Garage Society
11. HaHaHub
12. HKFYG Social Innovation Centre
13. HKSTP Soft Landing Centre
14. Hong Kong Commons
15. Incu-Labspace
16. Innovation Lab
17. Jumpstart Offices
18. LOffice IncuCenter
19. MakerBay
20. MakerHive
21. MISSOLINK
22. Paperclip Startup Campus
23. PLATFORM
24. Regus
25. Retro Spot
26. Startup Commune
27. Startup Business Centre
28. The Crafties
29. The Coffee House Cowork
30. The Collab
31. The Good Lab
32. The Hive
33. The Loft
34. Thinkaholic
35. TusParkHK
36. UNO Co-working Space
37. UNWIRE Space
38. Wynd Co-Working Space

Arbor Ventures
- Big data, financial services and
digital commerce
- Founders : Wei
Hopeman, Melissa Guzy
- Seed and Early Stage Venture
Investments
- Invested in :
2C2P - A-SaaS - DemystData -
Lufax - paidy - pipaHR -
Stockpile - Streem - ABRA
- Hardware + Software
Integration, Robotics, Security,
A.I., Smart Home
- Family Investment Office
- Seed, Early Stage Venture, and
Later Stage Venture Investments
- Invested in :
More than 12 investments inc.
Spotify - Bluesmart - Insight
Robotics - Wonder Workshop -
Kairos Watches - Dash Robotics -
Spire Global - Bikanda
Bright Success Capital Click Ventures
- Founder : Carman Chan
- Invested in :
EventXtra, parklu, Spotify,
Palantir Technologies, Meetup,
Launchpilots, Scout.

DOW Venture Capital Fresco Capital IDG Capital Partners
- Challenging problems such as
the need for clean water,
renewable energy generation
and conservation, and
increasing agricultural
productivity
- startup companies in various
stages of maturity across a
broad set of markets.
- Active since 1993
- Education - Enterprise -
Infrastructure - Healthcare -
Consumer
- Early stage venture investor
- Invested in :
Snaptee - Parklu - Plukka -
Insight Robotics - Jamn - Fresco
- Frenzoo - launch pilots
- Consumer products, franchise
services, internet and wireless
applications, new media, education,
healthcare, new energy, and
advanced manufacturing sectors.
- Primarily focusing on investing in
China related venture capital and
private equity projects.
- Seed, venture, and growth-stage
funding
- Invested in more than 400
companies

Intel Capital
- Datacenter software,
datacenter-cloud, digital media,
Internet of Things, ultrabook,
manufacturing and labs,
security, services -open source,
smartphones – tablets,
wearables.
- Any stage of growth
companies
Investments
- Invested in :
Filipagram, Jamn, Hummingbird
Innovations, Soapbox, Xnotes
Alliance
Mind FundMount Parker
- Fund and advise early-stage
business ventures in Asia.-
Invested in :
Gogo Van, Shopline, Cultish

Orchid Asia
- Enterprise Software, E-
Commerce, Education
- Investment group with offices in
Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai,
Beijing and Guangzhou
- Invested in more
than 10 companies
- Builds and backs sustainable
large-scale business models in
rapidly growing internet markets
Investments
- Invested in / started :
Compare Asia - Zalora -
FoodPanda - Groupon -
HelloFresh
Nova Founders CapitalSequoia Capital
- Energy, Enterprise, Financial,
Health Care, Internet, Mobile
companies

Join these communities to build meaningful connections:
HK communities :
- (360+ HK entrepreneurs) HKStartups:
- (80+ entrepreneurs, managed by) StartupsHK:
bit.ly/HKstartups
startupshk.typeform.com/to/SnHD4N
Communities worldwide
- (+40 French entrepreneurs) FrenchTechHK:
- (3,000+ worldwide) #startup:
- (2,300+ worldwide and 70+ in HK) Product Hunt:
bit.ly/FrenchTechHK
startupfoundation.co
phglobal.co
Grow your startup with these lists of online tools:
- whub.io/deals
- growth.supply/free
- marketingstack.io
- startupery.com
- toolsalad.com

Entering Hong Kong for the first time and in need of a Visa?
Here are the different types of Visa available :
- Admission Schemes for Talent, Professionals and Entrepreneurs
- General Employment Policy (GEP)
- Investment as Entrepreneurs
- Visit / Transit
- Working holiday

- The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
(AMCHAM) Entrepreneurs / SME
- The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
(BRITCHAM) Business Angels
- The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
(CANCHAM) Entrepreneurs / Small Businesses
- http://www.whub.io/blog
- http://e27.co/
- http://entrepreneurhk.org/
- http://www.fintech.hk
- http://jumpstartmag.com/
- http://scmp.com/
- http://startupshk.com/
- http://techcrunch.com/
- https://techinasia.com/

http://www.startmeup.hk/en/inside-scoop/news-update/newsfeed/hong-kong-has-17000-free-wifi-spots/
Market Indicators http://startupangels.co/market/hongkong/
World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2015 http://www.doingbusiness.org/ranking
DB 2015 Rank
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/infographic’
The International Property Rights Index 2014 http://internationalpropertyrightsindex.org/
WIPO 2014
The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2015 v1.2
World Economic Forum http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2014-2015/economies/#economy=HKG
Getting Finding for your Startup - InvestHK
Hong Kong The Global Connector for Startups - Startmeup.hk
Startup ecosystem survey - http://www.startmeup.hk/en/one-stop-hong-kong/startup-ecosystem-survey/
ESSEC-Hong Kong Startup Scene
Hong Kong's internet speed ranked number one in the world_2 Feb 2014 http://www.startmeup.hk/en/inside-scoop/news-update/newsfeed/hong-kongs-internet-speed-ranked-number-
one-in-the-world/
On Hong Kong’s Booming Start-up Scene_Cyberport https://www.cyberport.hk/files/526a47e7ece89351592355/Cyberport%20Article%20Britain%20in%20Hong%20Kong%20Oct%202013.pdf
Where Business Goes to Grow_InvestHK http://www1.investhk.gov.hk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/DGIP_Singapore-JP-June-2015-r2.pdf
Hong Kong GDP Annual Growth Rate_Trading Economics.com http://www.tradingeconomics.com/hong-kong/gdp-growth-annual
The Demographics : Ethnic Groups_Race Relations Unit http://www.had.gov.hk/rru/english/info/info_dem.html
LinkedIn member http://www.mumbrella.asia/2015/03/linkedin-eclipses-1m-members-hong-kong/
http://www.go-globe.hk/blog/ecommerce-hong-kong/
http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2014-2015/economies/#economy=HKG
http://www.go-globe.hk/blog/social-media-hong-kong/ social media usage
http://www.go-globe.hk/blog/internet-usage-hong-kong/ internet usage
http://www.go-globe.hk/blog/smartphone-usage-hong-kong/ smartphone usage
http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/hong-kong-china/
http://www.investhk.gov.hk/why-hong-kong/government-support-for-companies.html
http://www.startmeup.hk/en/resources/government-support/
http://www.startmeup.hk/en/resources/government-support/
http://www.gov.hk/en/business/supportenterprises/funding/
http://www.investhk.gov.hk/why-hong-kong/government-support-for-companies.html
Startbase http://www.startbase.hk
Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/
Statista http://www.statista.com/statistics/250503/big-four-accounting-firms-number-of-employees/
http://www.sef.hku.hk/events/Ecosystemresult/
50 Hong Kong Startups You Should Get To Know http://foundersgrid.com/50-hong-kong-startups
http://jumpstartmag.com/coworking-spaces/complete-list-of-coworking-spaces-in-hong-kong/#Coffice
http://www.immd.gov.hk

Hong Kong Startup Ecosystem ToolBox v.1

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