11th HKTDC Entrepreneur Day opens today
2019年5月16日 - 08:00PM
JCN Newswire
The 11th HKTDC Entrepreneur Day (E-Day), organised by the Hong
Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), opened today at the Hong
Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The opening ceremony
for the two-day event was officiated by Jason Chiu, Vice-chairman
of the Hong Kong Startup Council. E-Day brings together more than
280 exhibitors, offering a one-stop platform for start-ups to get
inspired, seek funding, source talents and build connections. It
also offers investors an invaluable opportunity to discover
innovative new products and services.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Margaret Fong, HKTDC Executive
Director, said: "Start-ups are a powerful growth engine for Hong
Kong's economy and supporting them is a priority for the HKTDC. The
vibrancy of the local start-up ecosystem can clearly be seen at
E-Day, which has kept pace with market developments by introducing
new elements every year and doubling the number of exhibitors over
the past decade." Ms Fong added that she was pleased to see that
E-Day has thrived alongside local start-ups, with angel funds,
mentoring programmes, shared workspaces and accelerators emerging
to provide Hong Kong entrepreneurs with a broad range of
support.
Start-ups show stronger focus on corporate social
responsibility
Under the theme of "The Start-up Living Lab", the 2019 E-Day
encourages start-ups and prospective entrepreneurs to create
solutions for challenges in four different areas of everyday life -
clothing, food, housing and transportation - using innovative ideas
and research to develop new products and services. This year's
E-Day exhibition features more than 280 exhibitors and their
advanced products and technologies, many of which address current
social problems and showcase corporate social responsibility
initiatives. The Imaginarium zone features local start-ups that are
developing real-life applications in the areas of healthtech,
biotech, fintech, greentech, augmented reality (AR), virtual
reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Final Start-up Express pitching contest held tomorrow
Another key HKTDC initiative is Start-up Express, a start-up
development programme now in its second year. In 2019 the programme
will see 20 start-up finalists proposing solutions to improve
efficiency in daily life and promote smart city development through
AI, big data, greentech, fintech, the Internet of Things (IoT),
medical technology, tourism technology and so on. The proposed
ideas include a technology education start-up, iSTEM, that analyses
emotions and hand gestures using big data, AI, VR and other
technological applications to enhance students' engagement; and
GoByBus, a mobile platform that provides long-distance bus
reservation services. The Our Hong Kong Foundation and AMTD Group
are the official partner and strategic partner of Start-up Express,
respectively.
The final Start-up Express pitching contest takes place tomorrow
(17 May) with the top 20 finalists presenting their ideas to a
panel of judges led by Duncan Chiu, Co-founder and Managing
Director of Radiant Venture Capital; Calvin Choi, Chairman and
President, AMTD Group; Jason Chiu, CEO of Cherrypicks; Jimmy Tao,
Managing Director and CEO of Vitargent (International)
Biotechnology Limited; and Prof GuanHua Chen, Co-founder of Hong
Kong X-Tech Startup Platform. A total of 10 winners will be
selected to explore new businesses opportunities overseas by taking
part in various international events and exhibitions - including
"Think Asia, Think Hong Kong", a large-scale business promotional
event to be held in Los Angeles in the United States - to help them
break into new markets.
Forums encourage innovative thinking
The "Start-up Runway" forum, one of the highlights of E-Day, was
held today, featuring a wide range of speakers including Sergio
Pachon, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Kiwi Campus Inc,
a campus robot delivery service company from the US, and Jack
Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of Airwallexas. Participants also heard
from two local start-up entrepreneurs, Andy Chan, Founder and
Executive Director of Qupital Limited, a fintech company focusing
on supply chain management that raised US$15 million in Series A
funding, and Jordan Fung, 16-year-old Founder & CEO of Pedosa
Group, who discussed the best business practices and ideas,
including operations management on the ground, to help audience
members plan their own business strategy.
Other entrepreneurs such as Jason Zheng, Co-founder & CEO of
HelloToby, Joe Mak, Founder and CEO of ANIWEAR Company Ltd, and
Fred Ngan, Co-founder & Co-CEO of Bowtie Life Insurance Company
Limited, took to the stage to share their secrets behind
transforming from start-ups into larger-scale enterprises and
discuss start-up trends, including developments in fintech, AI,
smart city development, medical technology and education
technology.
Another successful element of E-Day was today's E-Living Hackathon,
a first-time collaboration with Young Founders School which invited
young and prospective entrepreneurs to design solutions to address
some of life's daily annoyances. The activity collected more than
220 examples of real life challenges contributed by the public,
selecting three key challenges for the young participants to work
together to come up with innovative solutions and practices.
GBA Compass helps participants navigate Greater Bay Area
development
This year's event featured a seminar titled "GBA Compass", where
speakers including Tim Lee, Founder & CEO of QFPay Group, one
of the largest aggregate payment platforms in Mainland China, and
Abraham Lam, Director & CEO of MEGA Automation, shared their
insights on the start-up ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area (GBA),
its potential for development as a production base and consumer
market, and the growing demand for professional services.
Various organisations supporting the start-up ecosystem in the GBA
joined government bodies, including the Constitutional and Mainland
Affairs Bureau, and other departments promoting the development of
the GBA, to participate in an exhibition and provide up-to-date
market information and advisory services to current and potential
entrepreneurs.
To download photos, please click here: https://bit.ly/30x3ApY
Entrepreneur Day (E-Day) details:
Hours: 16 May - 11am-6:30pm; 17 May (Friday) - 11am-6pm
Website:
http://m.hktdc.com/fair/eday-tcen/HKTDC-Entrepreneur-Day.html
お問合せ先 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 50 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 more than
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 business
insights and 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.
Source: HKTDC
Contact:
Ruder Finn Asia:
Ivy Chan
Tel: +852 2201 6475 / +852 6686 9106
Email: Chani@RuderFinnAsia.com
Lilian Luk
Tel: +852 2201 6434 / +852 9153 8319
Email: Lukl@RuderFinnAsia.com
HKTDC Communications and Public Affairs:
Angel Tang
Tel: +852 2584 4544
Email: angel.hc.tang@hktdc.org
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