InvestHK (Invest Hong Kong) was established in the year 2000 to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and support overseas entrepreneurs to setup and expand in Hong Kong. From 23-30 January 2016, Invest HK is spearheading a week-long StartmeupHK Festival to attract global entrepreneurs to grow their business in Hong Kong. While at the festival, we’re trying to explore newer avenues that can contribute to the growth of Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem.

The right ingredients to foster the startup ecosystem

According to the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, Hong Kong’s start-up scene has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, with more than 1,500 start-ups in the city, which is an increase of nearly 50 per cent when compared with 2014. These ventures are led by entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, universities and Government.

The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, this morning (January 26) gives the opening remarks at the StartmeupHK Venture Forum 2016 held by Invest Hong Kong

The number of startup accelerators & incubators have surged from 3 to 40 since 2010. 43% of the startup founders in Hong Kong are from overseas including Mainland China & Taiwan which is a strong indication of Hong Kong’s global appeal to startups.

Travel Startups in Hong Kong are also attracting funding

Culturally, Hong Kong has been known as a financial destination with the presence of world’s top banks in the city. In addition, Hong Kong’s closeness to Shenzhen, a manufacturing hub, makes it a gateway for companies looking to position themselves strategically across China. Sectors like IoT, FinTech have emerged strongly and a vast number of investments are being made in these verticals indicating that value created technologies are creating a strong impact.

From Left: Klook’s Co-Founder Eric Gnock Fah with Co-Panelist at StartmeupHK festival in Hong Kong

That said, Hong Kong based travel-tech startup, Klook started about 18 months ago in the mid of 2014, had recently raised its Series A funding round of USD $5M. Klook helps customer in the travel itinerary space by enabling discounted tours & sightseeing and also enables merchants to manage their platform more efficiently with its tech solution.

It is the ideal business hub in Asia

According to Eric Gnock Fah, whose company Klook has raised funds from Hong Kong & China, “Hong Kong is a great global launch platform, especially since it is the most travelled city in the world making it conducive for travel businesses”. With Klook, their idea is to demonstrate that they can own the Hong Kong market and scale it further making it a truly global brand based out of Asia.

According to Dr Simon Galpin, Director-General of InvestHK, free inflow/outflow of information & low tax regime make Hong Kong a prime location for overseas and mainland companies to setup their operations.

Statistics indicate that over the last decade, there has been approximately 25% growth in number of companies preferring Hong Kong for managing their regional operations in Asia making it a highly attractive business location.

Dr Simon Galpin at StartmeupHK Festival 2016

Newer avenues for fund-raising are opening up

The earlier notion was that tech companies should look towards California, while for operations in China you are better off being based in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen. Entrepreneurs used to face a challenge in educating investors that being based in Hong Kong, you can still build a global company.

A new HK $2BN government fund has been announced recently to boost funding in technology startups via a matching process. In addition, Alibaba’s HK $1BN entrepreneurs fund presents a great opportunity for travel entrepreneurs to think of new ideas that can bring in new values to a city which accounts for the world’s most travellers. Both these funds are open to ideas from foreign entrepreneurs which means that Hong Kong is looking at attracting more overseas talent to start-up in the region.

A quick look at InvestHK’s last year’s project info indicates that Tourism & Hospitality emerged as the top sector in 2015, accounting for 57 of the 375 completed projects. So if you are a budding entrepreneur, you might want to foster innovation in the travel & tourism vertical in Hong Kong as this is perhaps the most appropriate time. Also Read: Hong Kong’s 10 coolest Travel Startups.

The post Can we expect the next big Travel Startup to emerge from Hong Kong? appeared first on TravHQ.

Hong Kong’s rise & rise on the world startup map has been quite astounding. The country’s developed infrastructure is a great platform for passionate entrepreneurs to setup their teams from the region. Klook.com and the relatively newer ones such as Sam the Local are few Travel Startups from Hong Kong that are doing quite well.

The much awaited StartmeupHK Festival 2016 will be hosted by Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) as part of the department’s ongoing initiative to promote the city as one of the fastest growing start-up hubs in the world.

InvestHK’s StartmeupHK Festival will be organised between January 23 and 30 2016

The festival which is being organised from January 23 and 30, 2016 will witness leading accelerators, corporates and associations hold a series of thematic conferences and pitching events covering areas such as the Internet of things (IoT), financial technology (fintech), health technology and data analytics, in which Hong Kong has a distinct competitive advantage.

This festival will attract thousands of international and local start-ups, investors and business leaders to converge in Hong Kong.

The Director-General of Investment Promotion, Dr Simon Galpin, said that InvestHK’s StartmeupHK Festival aims at showcasing the dynamism and growth of Hong Kong’s start-up ecosystem to both international and domestic audiences.

According to a latest survey by InvestHK,the number of co-working spaces and incubators in Hong Kong has topped 40 and the number of start-ups operating within these affordable premises has increased by 46 per cent in comparison to the last year.

In addition to the core events, the week will feature social mixers, roundtable discussions and investor group meet-ups in venues across Hong Kong.

More details about the StartmeupHK Festival 2016 are available on InvestHK’s dedicated start-up website www.startmeup.hk, with hyperlinks for further details of the core events. The StartmeupHK site also offers a one-stop portal to the start-up community in the city, listing the latest start-up events and signposting visitors to resources such as government funding schemes and incubation programmes.

About InvestHK

InvestHK is the Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established in July 2000 to attract foreign direct investment and support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in Hong Kong’s vibrant economy. As at June 2015, InvestHK had assisted over 3,700 companies which have created more than 40,200 new jobs in the first year of operation or expansion and over HK$99 billion of investment. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.

The post Hello Startups! StartmeupHK Festival is happening in Hong Kong in January 2016 appeared first on TravHQ.