Hong Kong’s budding startup ecosystem seems to be on steroids as this finance and trading hub seeks to anchor its economy to innovations.
This past week in Hong Kong, a hyper energy was on display as entrepreneurs, investors and startup stakeholders raced to and from packed programs, pitches and parties, excitedly exchanging ideas and making connections. There was even dancing in the aisles to Rolling Stones tunes at a startup program orchestrated by Hong Kong investment promotion agency InvestHK.
Like other markets around the world, Hong Kong is fueling the startup engines to attract high-growth creative enterprises that can boost local business and someday compare with tech titans anywhere on the planet. As the local entrepreneurial community gets the spirit and believes that Hong Kong can succeed with this mission, its startups could lift off and reach that vital tipping point in a few years.
The recently launched StartmeupHK program will help to test the limits. Through this initiative, three champion startups were selected last week from 384 contenders in 39 countries -- human-like robot maker Hanson Robotics from the U.S., paint-tinting technology Drikolor from New Zealand, and Internet of Things semiconductor company Wifinity from Hong Kong. They each receive some $300,000 in benefits in local work space, professional services and business support over the next year. The idea, of course, is that their success could reflect well on Hong Kong and lead other small businesses to consider setting up shop there.
Can Hong Kong, home to real estate and trading tycoons, be home to entrepreneurial heroes too? Can it reach for that risk-taking culture and global outlook that is so necessary? Will its tech leaders ever measure up to the founders of
Hong Kong is hardly the only business capital in the world that is trying to be different, Steve Jobs style. There’s Silicon Roundabout, Silicon Bridge, Silicon Alley – and how about Silicon Harbour for Hong Kong? Singapore too has long had its own blend of startup juice with the Economic Development Board’s Globalentrepolis. It’s no secret that the Silicon Valley style of entrepreneurship that spread to China and India over the past decade has now caught on globally.
This year, I’ve traveled to Sydney, London, Auckland, Wellington, Adelaide, Beijing, Shanghai and several US hubs. All are breeding startups. One notable example comes from South Australia, where the
There are several questions to ask as Hong Kong gets going with startups. What should the government’s role be, and what policies and programs can be introduced to help startups get off the ground? What is the right blend of government support with private market enterprise? What markets serve as models in getting this important blend right?
How can Hong Kong’s abundance of services work together? How can incubators, accelerators, trade associations, tech zones such as Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, and numerous universities including the tech-focused HKUST best contribute?
What is still lacking in the startup ecosystem (besides more capital to jumpstart young businesses)? What will entice more startup investors to come to Hong Kong and fill an investment vacuum even as skillful angel investors such as Tytus Michalski and Melissa Guzy place bets on local startups? And what will prompt more service providers such as Silicon Valley Bank to set up in Hong Kong and bank startups here after entering the mainland China through a joint venture in 2012.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, can all these multiple groups work together and combine their resources and energy to develop the risk-taking culture, melting pot of cultures, ideas and money to help startups and emerging companies score a winning IPO or M&A deal?
It only takes a couple of winners, but that’s tough to achieve. Most VCs make their money on only about 10 percent of their portfolio companies.
As Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Shanghai have drawn capital and talent, and produced leading tech brands Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Sina, Hong Kong has been at risk of being left in the shadows.
Now Hong Kong needs to go for it with the right formula and turn out its own special mix of entrepreneurial heroes.
