All It Takes Is 1 Hong Kong Startup To Break Through

Amidst the buzz and energy surrounding Hong Kong's push to become a hub for tech innovations, startups here are beginning to make waves, pulling in some big financings from venture capitalists and corporate venture investors, scaling up and expanding internationally.

Seeing these startups take off is an encouraging sign for Hong Kong, where young businesses have faced a financing gap to boost their operations and to pursue global ambitions.  While not sizeable rounds compared to the what we've been seeing in Silicon Valley or India lately, these recent venture financing in Hong Kong are still quite respectable.

Take the $14 million that innovative lending service WeLab hauled in this year from Sequoia Capital and Li Ka-Shing’s Tom Group. It was the first time that Sequoia Capital, a force behind many successful ventures in mainland China and Silicon Valley, has invested in a Hong Kong startup.

WeLab leverages big data and web technology to shorten the time it takes to get a loan to only 24 hours for qualified customers. It's the brainchild of former banker at Standard Chartered and Citibank, Simon Loong, who has his MBA from Stanford. Loong is busily working most days in Mainland China, where he's expanding his two-year-old business, but took time out to speak at Silicon Dragon in Hong Kong.  He recently launched a service for students in China to take out loans using WeChat on their mobile device.

Or take Tink Labs. The Hong Kong-based startup raised $25 million from institutional and private investors, including Alcatel smartphone maker TCL, which has taken a minority stake in the Hong Kong-based startup.

Tink Labs, formed in 2012, provides a "Handy" customizable smartphone system for the hospitality business that proves hotel guests an amenity to make unlimited calls, check voicemail and explore a city guide. Founder and CEO Terence Kwok, a University of Chicago grad, has recently expanded the service to Paris and is aiming to open in several other touristy cities. Both Kwok and Loong took time out from their busy entrepreneurial lives to speak at Silicon Dragon in Hong Kong. See tech chat video.

Then there's GoGoVan, which took in $10 million from China's social networking platform  Renren this November to expand its Uber-like service for deliveries and logistics. Steven Lam, a co-founder of GoGo Van, which was incubated at HK Cyberport, is expanding its van-hailing app to several other Asian cities.

Beyond these typical venture capital fundings, the government-run StartmeupHK initiative is having its own impact. Hong Kong was recently the host city for 45 startup events in one week, including a venture and awards program by Silicon Dragon.

Through the StartmeupHK program, five startups were awarded $600,000 of professional services, mentoring and work space. The government-run StartmeupHK initiative from InvestHK, now in its second  year, drew 550 entries from 47 economies in a competition, with the wins going to two Hong Kong-based techie startups -- data analytics business Scoutbots and freight logistics service Freightos -- as well as high-speed data connector Perseus Telecom and smart city provider Seevider from the U.S. and fintech player Easy Finance from the U.K.

All it takes is one major breakthrough business from Hong Kong to really boost its startup status. That time could be coming soon.