Over 70 Hopeful Startups Primed for Hong Kong Mega Event of EPiC 2024 Grand Finale – SME & Entrepreneurship Magazine
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 March 2024 – With the completion of the last two EPiC 2024 semi-finals in Hong Kong (29 February 2024) and Stuttgart (4-5 March 2024), Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has successfully wrapped up its first-ever world series of four regional semi-finals for the HKSTP global Elevator Pitch Competition 2024 (EPiC).
Over the course of seven weeks from January to March, the brightest and best startups from Silicon Valley, Singapore, Hong Kong and Stuttgart (Germany) have battled in ferocious pitching contests to leave over 70 semi-finalists still standing and set for the EPiC Grand Finale in Hong Kong on 26 April 2024. All applicants have set their sights on the US$45 million investment to be arranged, plus up to US$5 million in HKSTP Corporate Venture Fund (CVF), as well as US$240,000 in cash prizes, plus partnership opportunities. The EPiC 2024 Grand Finale on 26 April 2024 will take place at the iconic Sky100 venue atop Hong Kong’s tallest building, International Commerce Centre (ICC), with aspiring startups literally making 60-second elevator pitches while hurtling up the ICC tower.
Eric Or, Head of Partnerships, HKSTP, said, EPiC 2024 has surpassed all expectations with over 70 startups of the highest quality and with the most impressive levels of talent, innovation and judging excellence that we have witnessed since this global contest began. With EPiC 2024, HKSTP has now forged a new global innovation footprint across the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Mainland China, providing unmatched growth opportunities for startups plugging directly into the city’s biggest innovation ecosystem and also integrating for seamless expansion from Hong Kong to the China GBA and beyond.
This year, HKSTP has handpicked a star judging panel of leading figures from the Hong Kong innovation scene to determine the winners at EPiC 2024. Over 70 semi-finalists will be categorised by the three innovation tracks of PropTech, FinTech and MobilityTech. They will be assessed by the specific track judging teams, who will select four finalists from each track to join a final group for 12 startups for a final on-stage presentation to the final judging panel. From the coming Grand Finale to the series of global semi-finals, HKSTP has assembled over 100 world-class innovation leaders to steer the judging contests and more judges are being confirmed. The current Grand Finale final judges include:
Before coming on the stage, the selected over 70 semi-finalists will make their live 60-second pitch in front of judges while riding up the elevator at the iconic Sky100 venue atop Hong Kong’s tallest building, International Commerce Centre. The current Grand Finale elevator judges include:
EPiC 2024 Grand Finales also gives valuable chance to startups to get noticed from investors with their cutting-edge solutions and business plans. Investors judges will also select 12 finalists out of over 70 semi-finalists in the 60-second elevator pitches. Investor Final Judges and Investor Elevator Judges confirmed to attend Grand Finale including Lap Man, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Beyond Ventures; Dr Alfred Shang, Managing Partner, Bitrock Capital; Kenneth Lee, Investment Director, Gaw Capital; Dr Jason Sun, Operation Director, Hong Kong X; Dr Samson Tam, JP, Partner, InnoAngel; Alex Zhou, Investment Manager, Jafco Asia; David Chang, Managing Partner, Mindworks Capital, and Michael Chow, Managing Director, Radiant Tech Ventures.
EPiC has a proven track record of propelling success for past finalists and winners. Two notable examples are Archifiction from EPiC 2023 and Papkot from 2021. Archifiction is a naked-eye 3D XR tech venture based in Silicon Valley and now also Hangzhou in China. Through EPiC, it successfully partnered with a leading Hong Kong property group, Henderson Land, to create a pioneering XR experience centre in Hong Kong and it will soon launch and power further growth in this region. Meanwhile, Papkot is a French greentech that set up in Hong Kong and through EPiC expanded with a lab at the HKSTP Shenzhen Branch. Today it is aggressively taking its ground-breaking plastic-free paper packaging to meet critical market needs and opportunities here in Hong Kong and the GBA.
All chosen semi-finalists for the Grand Finale will gain vital exposure to international investors as well as the cream of corporate innovators in the region. While the access to HKSTP’s Shenzhen Branch provides global ventures with scalable, efficient, and dedicated infrastructure and services support, in the expansion to Mainland China. More information can be found on: EPiC 2024 (https://epic.hkstp.org/) and HKSTP Shenzhen Branch (https://www.hkstp.org/hong-kong-and-beyond/greater-bay-area/hkstp-shenzhen/).
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Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) was established in 2001 with a mission to position Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. HKSTP has created a thriving I&T ecosystem supporting over 10 unicorns with more than 13,000 research professionals and around 1,700 technology companies from 26 countries and regions focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.
We offer comprehensive support to attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation for technology ventures on their I&T journey. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern InnoParks in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three InnoParks are realising a vision of new industrialisation for Hong Kong, where sectors including advanced manufacturing, micro-electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined.
Hong Kong Science Park Shenzhen Branch in Futian, Shenzhen, opened in September 2023 to support Hong Kong’s future development and its growing demands of the I&T industry and to strengthen cross-border exchange, attract technology companies as well as talent from around the world, helping them go global. It has both dry and wet laboratories, co-working space, conference and exhibition spaces, and more. We will focus on attracting enterprises in seven key areas: Medtech, big data and AI, robotics, new materials, microelectronics, fintech and sustainability.
Through our infrastructure, services, expertise, and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish I&T as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong.
