Kicking off Start-ups in Hong Kong – for Starters

Since the mid 2010s, the city had placed strong emphasis on start-up with the government being the main source of support. With this, Hong Kong soon became one of the top cities in the world for start-up and investment. The two major sectors are in focus:  1) Information and Technology – involving AI, biotech, fintech and smart city – and 2) social enterprises – especially with the onset of COVID causing lot of resources unavailable for those in need. Each of these two sectors have separate resources and oversight.

Infrastructure, Funding, and Rapid Action

Having a solid infrastructure for startup development is important, especially in the beginning, because emtrepeneurs need to prove the concept in order to keep maintain funding and support.  The good thing in Hong Kong is that several means exist for them to kickstart their operations and test the acceptance of the market to their ideas. Start-up competitions such as elevator pitches and hackathons; funding initiatives; incubators and government subsidies all give the entrepreneurs solid advice, insights and sometimes funding, that is, if they can successfully appeal. Often, there are startup and trade events that help entrepeneurs to highlight their projects, exchange contacts and to expand their circle. All in all, there are almost 70 different assistance programs of different types, including Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS), Partnership Research Program (PRP), various Cyberport programmes, and Corporate Venture Fund (CVF) to name a few. Through these medians, entrepeneurs can determine if there is a chance for their idea to be sustained, whether it has potential to succeed or to give a quick death instead. I will elaborate on this in more detail later.

The “mirroring” duality of the Hong Kong Market – Creating Opportunity from Vulnerability

Some had said that Hong Kong has an environment for startups to develop, but insufficient as an ecosystem because it lacks interaction across private or academic sectors. However, one must look beyond just the Hong Kong market to see the hidden value and opportunities of the city as a springboard. For one, Hong Kong has a firm infrastructure, financial integrity and strength. In addition, Hong Kong’s status as a gateway into China still exist, and it’s deepening cooperation with the nearby areas continue to give it support in being a bridge between China and the world. This is the gem for businesses coming to expand in Hong Kong.

Another aspect to the city is it’s bi-polar nature. For example, the disconnect between focus of startup development vs. conservative consumer market is among several ongoing dilemmas the city face. Yet for entrepeneurs, where there is a problem, there is opportunity to create something anew. Having a problem that current exist means there is a possibility for you or anyone with a possibility and willing to try and tackle the issue, having being the pioneer to resolve the problem with your innovation. Hong Kong is unique in that, if your solution succeed in this city, it can most definitely be applied almost anywhere else but not the other way around, which is more a reason to try them out here.

My next post will expand on the above points and to give you further information on available resources should you be interested in the Hong Kong Market. Do comment and let me know if there is any aspect you want to know more about.