When Tech Worlds Collide: Welcome Hong Kong!
Hong Kong skyline. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Every summer, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, accelerators and services from all over the world descend onto Startupfest to share and discover the best of tech startups. We get a real kick out of meeting new businesses from every corner of the map, and we’ve been known to climb one or two of the tallest buildings to find them — and no, that’s not an exaggeration.
From Toronto to Tel Aviv, Paris to Hong Kong, we’ve taken Startupfest into the elevators of some of the world’s most iconic buildings. If you thought you mastered the art of the elevator pitch, imagine pitching for the chance to win $100,000 while riding up the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower. That’s the Elevator World Tour.
While in Hong Kong, we collaborated with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the largest technology and innovation incubator in the metropolis hosting a whopping 650 companies, to give the city’s most promising startups the chance of a lifetime: to pitch their businesses during the time it took to scale the city’s tallest building: the International Commerce Center. We were blown away by the promise of Hong Kong’s tech startup community, so we’ve extended an invitation to HKSTP to join us at Startupfest this summer along with a group of 20 people including founders, investors and collaborators of the incubator.
Since 2001, HKSTP has championed a large range of successful startups solving towards a sustainable future through a wide breadth of applications including healthy ageing, robotics and smart cities. They have been providing startups with access to R&D offices, infrastructure, market-led laboratories and technical centres with professional support services to over 12,000 people.
“We are thrilled that Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation continues the collaboration with Startupfest since the Elevator World Tour in Hong Kong two years ago, and becomes one of the partners in this year’s Startupfest in Montreal,” said Albert Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. “Hong Kong’s strong global connections and proximity to the Mainland China has given the city an edge to become an international hub for startups to thrive. We are excited to gather a number of Hong Kong’s diversified home-grown startups, which will exchange innovative ideas with burgeoning startups from around the world, build connections with seasoned entrepreneurs and get exposure to investors in the cultural capital of Canada. As Hong Kong’s leading innovation and technology catalyst and super-connector, we are also enthusiastic about sharing our experience in incubating and nurturing startups in this exciting and fun-filled event.”
If you’ve been considering doing business in Asia, this is a great opportunity to connect with players in the industry across the ocean.
We’ll also be welcoming other delegations from across the globe, which we look forward to sharing more about in the following weeks! If you would like to host a delegation of your city’s best and brightest tech startups, contact us!
