HK startups revving up ‘significantly’
SAR sees sizeable growth in budding enterprises last year as funding schemes multiply
Hong Kong’s startup community recorded sizeable growth last year, according to recent government statistics, as neighboring cities also reported increases in the number of fledgling companies amid growing support for technology and entrepreneurship.
In d u s t r y i n s i d e r s u r g e d the SAR government to help build connections between startup founders and seasoned entrepreneurs to further their development.
The number of startups in Hong Kong grew by 24 percent to 1,926 last year, and employed 41 percent more staff than in 2015, a recent survey by Invest Hong Kong ( Inv e s t H K ) — t h e g o v e r n - ment ’s investment promotion agency — showed.
Describing the progress as “rather significant”, Frederick Yung, a mentor at Hong Kong Business Angel Ne twork and a lecturer on entrepreneurship at the Chinese Un i v e r s i ty o f Ho n g Ko n g , cited intense government efforts as one of the key drivers behind the growth.
He t o l d C h i n a D a i l y t h e development in 2016 coincided with the launch of the Innovation and Technology Bureau. “We may link it with the bureau’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship in Hong Kong and the various funding schemes made available for startups”.
The government’s HK$2billion Innovation and Te c h n o l o g y Ve n t u r e Fu n d is expected to be launched in the first half of this year, benefitting the city ’s entrepreneurs.
At the same time, entrepreneurship in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta region had also been flourishing in the past year.
According to the latest Guangdong provincial statistics, Shenzhen boasted more startups per capita than any part on the mainland, with 30,000 tech companies and more than 1.4 million small and medium-sized enterprises in operation by the end of November last year.
Aiming to boost cooperation and development in technolog y, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are set to jointly build an 87-hectare innovation and technology park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop near the border.
Guangzhou saw an almost four-fold increase in the number of hi-tech companies to 4,700 in 2016, Mayor Wen Guohui said on Tuesday.
The provincial capital has vowed to increase its investment in technology research and development to 3 percent of its GDP by 2020.
Faced with fierce competition from mainland cities, Hong Kong still faces various problems in its bid to become the region’s innovation hub. “Boosting the success rate of startups and then having it promoted is a challenge,” said Yung.
He b e l i e v e d t h a t Ho n g Kong star tups need closer support from established businesses that can share their valuable experience in running companies through mentoring programs.
“Such mentoring activities now are very ad hoc and not structured. The Hong Kong government or non-profit organizations can take the billion HK dollar lead in developing such a pool of mentors,” he said.
One of the Hong Kong government’s recent efforts to bring all stakeholders in the ecosystem together to create better connection is the StartmeupHK Festival to be held from January 16 to 20.
Foc used on sec tors such a s f i n a n c i a l t e c h n o l o g y, r e t a i l , s m a r t c i t y, f a s h i o n and health technolog y, the festival — the second of its kind to be organized in the city by InvestHK — aims to amass entrepreneurs, investors and talents from home and abroad.
growth in the number of startups in Hong Kong last year, according to a survey by Invest Hong Kong the value of the SAR government’s Innovation and Technology Venture Fund that’s due to be launched this year The Hong Kong government or non-profit organizations can take the lead in developing such a pool of mentors”