Is Hong Kong's Startup Ecosystem really THRIVING?

Hong Kong, city of dream, house of Bruce Lee, astonishing victoria harbour and region of delicious Dim Sum! But what makes Hong Kong ‘The rising startup capital?” Hong Kong's startup market has skyrocketed dramatically. According to Hong Kong Trade and Development Council report published in 2016, more than 2000 startups were being built and the rate increased to 16% by 2017. The growth itself is the living example of Hong Kong turning into a next silicon valley for entrepreneur bees. Jay Kim, one of the Forbes Contributors, expressed his experience of seeing the transformation of a non-existent startup ecosystem into an incontrovertible entrepreneurial hub. Science park, living laboratory and dreamland for entrepreneurs, is inhabited by 13,000 professionals in numerous fields. It would be unjustified if another nucleus of startup development is not being referred and that’s Cyberport! Cyberport itself is a cluster of 300 technological and digital companies and making the surface smoother and more competitive for others. Now the question arises, WHY HONG KONG?

Answer of this question is quite complicated with some flabbergasting factors. Blockchain is one of the thriving factors to help Hong Kong turn into a buzz of startups. This revolutionary decentralized database transaction record system allows to complete all transactions within a short period of time which dazzles new entrepreneurs and investors. The most recent successful Blockchain startup by Hong Kong, Crypto.com, can be referred here as a great example, as they are the first startup in Asia providing Cryptocurrency Visa Debit cards. Most important point to be highlighted here is that Crypto.com has a partnership with Singapore and has been invested by German Company called Wirecard Bank. So, it’s clearly visible the reason behind sky rising progress and attraction of foreign countries on Hong Kong’s startup market.

Second thriving factor is easy access for young entrepreneurs to show their ideas and get funding or collaboration opportunities with big companies. It’s great to see the enthusiasm and creating platforms by different universities. Institute for entrepreneurship (PolyU), Entrepreneurship Association (CityU), Jumpstarter (for empowering and boosting ideas), WHub (Hong Kong Startup Community) are one of the most successful platforms for providing best opportunities for fresh entrepreneurs.

Third thrilling and attractive for foreign investors and entrepreneurs is the easy tax system and free flow of information. The Low Tax system has become spellbinding as the tax rate has been cut to half of the previous tax rate, which is 8.6%.

When it comes to Silicon Valley, it’s a cluster of different sectors. Similarly, Hong Kong’s startup market is also flourishing in different sectors such as FinTech, Biotechnology, HealthTech, Travel and Experience, EdTech and many more. Having numerous opportunities in different sectors is another tantalizing factor for turning a startup into a HUGE thing. Futu securities, one of the most triumphant FinTech Startups in Hong Kong, which is being shared by Hong Kong, Mainland China and the US. Additionally, it has more than 5 million users across the world. Online wallet has been a topic of board and current interest around the whole world. And without any disconcert, Hong Kong is also leading with its own product, TNG wallet. It has been recognised as a global ewallet which has functions of global remittance, P2P money transfer, global bill payment and cash withdrawal. Moreover, TNG wallet is connected to more than 850 banks and has processed 900 million HKD by the end of the previous year.

While discussing the growth of FinTech startups, AI and Health Tech startups are also keeping pace in the competition. AmbiLab, one of the most fascinating AI startups, crowdfunded by IndieGogo, has raised funding around 156,000 USD. For students, specifically Non-local Students, searching for a place to store their daily commodities has always been a headache. As a solution, Hong Kong started “Boxful” as a lifesaver startup company by storing items with climate controlled facilities whenever and wherever the customer needs. Surprisingly, Boxful raised 8.1 million dollar by then end of 2014 and by the collaboration of numerous investors the profit rate converted to double by the end of 2015.

By analysing above mentioned companies categories and success rate clearly indicate the graph of the rising startup ecosystem of Hong Kong is increasing linearly with high potential rate of investors and earning. Hong Kong’s startups are increasing with the rate of 18% every year and increasing linearly the job opportunities with the rate of 51%. The Hong Kong Local Startup community is now known as an international startup hub as 35% of the investors are Non-Local citizens (Mainland China, US, UK, Singapore).

It’s not so far when people will be choosing and giving equal priorities to Hong Kong as Silicon Valley or may be in near future projects that can be transferred or shared by these two biggest hubs of startups. One of the famous entrepreneurs said, “For the reason I left Hong Kong a few years back, same reason I’m coming back to Hong Kong. And that's a thriving buzz of numerous startups.”

If you are looking for a startup opportunity in Asia, Hong Kong is the place to be. You might not want to look further, as Hong Kong's ecosystem is promising. Find out more on what this Asian metro city has to offer in our first Sunday article!!