A start up competition called JUMPSTARTER 2017 kicked off in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Thursday, where participating teams vied for 3 million U.S. dollars of investment to grow their business.
Organized by The Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co. Ltd. (Cyberport) and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the competition aims to identify promising entrepreneurs and provide them with capital, operational support and networking resources to grow their business.
The competition covers over 10 trending sectors including Fin-tech, Wearable, Edu-Tech, E-commerce, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Healthy Aging, Sensors and Advanced Materials, Smart City, among others.
Participants will face off in a series of pitch events starting from May. Teams that reach the semi-final round will have the opportunity to participate in workshops where they can gather feedback and seek advice from subject matter experts. 24 top performing teams will participate in the final competition in late 2017.
Three winning teams in the final competition will each receive up to 1 million U.S. dollars in investment from the Fund. The winners will also have the opportunity to consult with industry specialists and gain access to a wide array of business resources from Alibaba Group, Cyberport and HKSTP to grow their companies.
"As a member of Alibaba's founding team, I understand the challenges of starting a business," said Joseph Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group. "The Fund is honored to have the opportunity to work with Cyberport and HKSTP to advance innovation and support start-ups in Hong Kong. Through JUMPSTARTER 2017, we hope to support aspiring Hong Kong entrepreneurs through capital funding, mentoring and nurturing. "
Herman Lam, CEO of Cyberport said "We believe that the rich experience in inspiring creativity among start-ups and accelerating their growth will enable Cyberport to attract more potential companies to participate in 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. "
Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund is a non-profit initiative launched by Alibaba Group in 2015. The Fund's mission is to help Hong Kong-based entrepreneurs and young people realize their dreams and visions for their businesses and communities.
