The Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, a not-for-profit initiative by Alibaba Group, has launched a US$3m startup competition in partnership with Hong Kong Cyberport Management.
Jumpstarter 2017 aims to identify promising entrepreneurs and provide them with funding, operational support and networking resources in order to grow their business.
Participants will face off in a series of pitch events starting this month, and the team that reaches the semi-finals will have the opportunity to participate in workshops where they can gather feedback and advice from industry experts.
The competition covers over 10 trending sectors including fintech, wearables, IoT, educational technology, e-commerce, big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, healthy aging, sensors and advanced materials, and smart city, in eight semi-finals.
The 24 top performing teams will participate in the final competition later in the year, with the three winning teams each receiving up to US$1m in investment from the Fund.
The winners will also have the opportunity to consult with industry specialists and gain access to business resources from Alibaba Group, Cyberport and HKSTP (Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation) to grow their companies.
Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group, commented, “As a member of Alibaba’s founding team, I understand the challenges of starting a business.
“Through Jumpstarter 2017, we hope to support aspiring Hong Kong entrepreneurs through capital funding, mentoring and nurturing. Leveraging the vast array of resources from Alibaba Group, Cyberport and HKSTP, we are hopeful that Jumpstarter 2017 will encourage more people to get involved in innovation and technology and make Hong Kong a vibrant hub for startups in the future.”
Herman Lam, CEO of Cyberport, added, “Cyberport will line up four competitions, whereby the themes are aligned with our focused clusters.
“We believe that the rich experience in inspiring creativity among startups and accelerating their growth will enable Cyberport to attract more potential companies to participate in the Jumpstarter 2017 competition. This will also allow companies to promote their innovation to the masses, so that digital technology can grow to become a key driving force of the Hong Kong economy.”
May 4, 2017