InnoVenture Salon, Start-up Zone debut at upcoming AFF to foster
start-up development
HONG KONG, Jan 10, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The InnoVenture Salon
will debut at next week's Asian Financial Forum (AFF), to foster
start-up development. The Salon will leverage the AFF to connect
start-ups with more than 2,500 business leaders and investors,
offering an ideal stage for start-ups to present innovative
business concepts and take part in mentorship sessions and connect
with potential investors and partners. This year's AFF takes place
next Monday and Tuesday (15-16 Jan), organised by the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade
Development Council (HKTDC) at the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
The InnoVenture Salon is supported by several start-up incubators
and venture capital funds, including the Alibaba Entrepreneurs
Fund, Nest Ventures, Hong Kong Startup Council, Hong Kong X-Tech
Startup, SuperCharger, Cyberport Hong Kong and the Hong Kong
Science and Technology Parks. Close to 20 local and overseas
start-ups, which have been shortlisted from the nominations
submitted by these organisations, will set up booths at the
Start-up Zone under the InnoVenture Salon, on the second day of
AFF.
AFF gathers accomplished investors from around the world, including
those in venture capital and private equity, as well as
high-net-worth individuals. To help start-ups reach potential
investors, AFF will arrange one-on-one Investor Meetups for
companies to introduce their projects in greater depth and answer
questions from potential investors. Start-ups can also pitch their
projects to a larger group of investors at the AFF Deal Flow
Project Presentation session.
In addition, seasoned experts in the start-up field will feature at
Mentor Hours, offering practical advice on setting up and
operations, fundraising, marketing strategies for the Chinese and
wider Asian markets, and pitching.
A diverse range of start-ups - from Fintech, HealthTech to Modern
Agriculture
All of the participating start-ups have developed unique businesses
that combine technology and new business models. Kami, a start-up
nominated by the Hong Kong X-Tech Startup, specialises in
artificial intelligence applications for the financial and banking
sector. The company's chatbot technology remembers and understands
the context of past customer conversations and extracts relevant
information to formulate the most appropriate response for ongoing
conversations. The company aims to leverage automated reasoning to
enable the chatbot to understand the nuances of different
conversations. The company has raised US$1.7 million in funding
from SoftBank Corp's ARM Innovation Ecosystem Accelerator, the Tin
Fu Fund, and the Hong Kong X Technology Fund.
For Kuaiwear, a start-up nominated by the Hong Kong Startup
Council, its KuaiFit smart sport headphones offers real-time voice
coaching based on data collected from a clinically validated
heart-rate monitor and a speed tracker. Coaching content is
provided by renowned coaches, including Olympic athletes. Apart
from running, the KuaiFit Marketplace mobile app offers training
plans for different sports, such as athletics, swimming and
cycling. In addition, coaches can upload their own training plan
for users to purchase. The product has already won awards at
multiple start-up competitions, including the TiE Hong Kong Startup
Competition, AIA Accelerator, and the Hong Kong Startup Council's
STARS Pitch.
Nominated by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Farm66 is a local
indoor agricultural factory that specialises in high-quality
eco-organic agricultural products, using aquaponics and patented
greenhouse technologies, such as energy-efficient LED wavelength
farming and cloud-based farming parameters monitoring. Using a
specific light spectrum, the company says it can enhance the
efficiency of photosynthesis, raising the quality and yield of
crops. Growing vegetables in a closed environment also greatly
reduces insect and bacterial infection, obviating the use of
pesticides and minimising carbon footprint. The company has already
garnered attention from Dubai-based Eternal Global, which is
considering introducing the agricultural factory to grow crops in
Dubai's desert environments. It is also considering using Hong Kong
as a financing platform for the project. Farm66 recently won the
Jumpstarter 2017 competition and received US$1 million in funding
from the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund.
Project matching to foster cooperation
For the 10th consecutive year, the HKTDC will co-organise the AFF
Deal Flow Matchmaking Session with the Hong Kong Venture Capital
and Private Equity Association, to provide pre-arranged one-on-one
deal-sourcing and matchmaking meetings for investors and project
owners. More than 350 projects have already been submitted, in the
areas of Fintech, manufacturing and clean technology, education,
infrastructure, energy and agriculture.
AFF will also organise several Industry Presentations focusing on
start-ups, clean technology, healthcare technology and Fintech,
featuring industry experts discussing the latest industry trends,
as well as investment project presentations. The Financial and
Professional Advisory Services Zone features representatives of
financial institutions, accounting firms, legal firms and business
consultation companies, providing free on-site consultation
services.
The Global Investment Zone returns to AFF, with representatives of
governments and investment promotion agencies from 11 countries,
including Australia, Germany, as well as first-time participants
Mexico and Bangladesh, who will introduce their local markets,
investment opportunities and regulations.
The Start-up Zone, Mentor Hours and Industry Presentation sessions
are open to the press. Members of the media interested in
interviewing participating start-ups or speakers of the Mentor
Hours can contact Billy Ng (billy.km.ng@hktdc.org).
Start-ups Zone Exhibitors
Company: Major Business
- Farm66: Indoor agricultural factory practices aquaponic
system
Nominated by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund
- En-trak: Smart energy-saving system
Nominated by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund
- Mad Gaze: Smart glasses
Nominated by Startup Council
- Contact Store: Multi-disciplinary design consultancy specialising
in innovative products
Nominated by Startup Council
- Kuaiwear: Smart sports coaching headset
Nominated by Startup Council
- Kami: A chatbot with the capability to remember and understand
past conversations
Nominated by the Hong Kong X-Tech Startup
- AA pay: A payment system for brick and mortar stores
Nominated by the Hong Kong X-Tech Startup
- Netki: An identity-verifying system for blockchain and tokens
etc
Nominated by Nest Venture
- Altitude labs: Digital transformation, web and mobile application
development agency
Nominated by Nest Venture
- FinChat: Enabling compliance monitoring, archival and analytics
for popular messaging apps in regulated enterprises
Nominated by Supercharger
- Gatecoin: A Bitcoin and Ethereum token exchange platform based in
Hong Kong
Nominated by Supercharger
- Velotrade: A receivables invoice financing platform for immediate
SME funding
Nominated by Cyberport
- Wesurance Limited: Insurance mobile app
Nominated by Cyberport
- Spire: Software-based crypto wallets for blockchain
- LA Blockchain accelerator: A venture fund focus on start-ups that
use blockchain as underlying technology
- Zero-One Capital: An investment fund focus on blockchain-digital
currency space
- ConnectAR Limited: Mobile app developer centred on AR
Asian Financial Forum: www.asianfinancialforum.com/
This release full version: http://bit.ly/2Eu2VJM
About HKTDC
Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
(HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for
Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally,
including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong
as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world.
With 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international
exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide
companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the
mainland and in international markets, while providing information
via trade publications, research reports and digital channels
including the media room. For more information, please visit:
www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc,
LinkedIn.
- Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc
- LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council
Source: HKTDC
Contact:
HKTDC
Communications & Public Affairs Department
Billy Ng
Tel: +852 2584 4393
Email: billy.km.ng@hktdc.org
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