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A Hong Kong start-up, Vitargent (International) Biotechnology Ltd, has come up with a new process that could vastly improve the effectiveness of food safety testing.
Its test uses fish embryos to identify up to 1,000 toxins at a time; the traditional methods can screen just five to ten. After more a decade of developing the process, the firm last week announced that it had taken on respected venture capital firm WI Harper Group – its first major investment.
That’s good news for consumers as well as for Vitargent.
Yet it’s also a small but important validation of Hong Kong’s emerging hi-tech sector.
The city might be known for its financial services, logistics and tourism, but for a decade and a half the government and its agencies have been quietly pursuing policies to build out Hong Kong’s technology capabilities.
Some 11,000 people are now employed by companies at Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks campuses, and government direct investment in R&D has more than doubled since the early 2000s to HK$1.9 billion.
Hong Kong’s fast-growing start-up scene is starting to catch the eye of the tech investment community. In the last 12 months, WeLab, a peer-to-peer lending platform has won US$20 million in funding, cargo firm Lalamove has snared US$10 million while Divide, a New York-Hong Kong mobile software company, has obtained US$12 million from investors such as Google Ventures and Qualcomm. And just last month Alibaba boss Jack Ma announced a HK$1 billion fund to back Hong Kong start-ups.
The government also plans to set up an Innovation and Technology Bureau to give high-level direction and voice to technology policies and to add another HK$5 billion to its Innovation and Technology Fund. While currently delayed in the legislature, these plans serve as a sign of government ambition and intent.
There is no exact formula in enabling hi-tech innovation, but there are some common ingredients: world-class universities, a strong talent pool and advanced infrastructure. It also requires supportive government policies and some funding.
Other small economies such as Israel and Finland have successfully applied this prescription to nurture high value-add businesses in IT, biotech and other fields, with entrepreneurs, investors, academia and governments each playing a role.
We believe Hong Kong has the pieces in place to be a technology success story.
But that is not just the view of Hong Kong. That is also the belief of WI Harper chairman, Peter Liu, one of Asia’s most storied investors.
Liu was Asia’s first venture capitalist, founding his business in Taiwan in 1983, and was one of the first into China in 1992. His successes include video software firm DivX, China digital media play Focus Media and PC soundcard pioneer Creative Technologies. Recently he took an early-round stake in apps search firm Quixey, which last year received investments from Alibaba and Softbank that valued it at US$600 million.
Peter Liu has no doubt about the city's potential, because of the city’s role as a hub and financial centre and its ability to attract a lot of young talent. Ironically perhaps, given Hong Kong’s role as a global finance hub, the one missing piece of the puzzle has been early stage financing.
This is one reason why the WI Harper’s investment is a milestone. Peter Liu has built his reputation on savvy early-stage plays. With Jack Ma and Peter Liu putting money into Hong Kong start-ups, we shouldn’t be surprised that Vitargent CEO Eric Chen now has to fend off VCs keen to buy a piece of his business. He describes it as a nice problem to have.
But Liu says for him it’s not just about money, but also about supporting young talent.
He believes technology is a mid- to long-term investment, and urges Hong Kong’s biggest companies to back technology and young companies.
The opportunity is to invest in first-class talent. Hong Kong is able to attract and assemble expertise from all over the world, as Vitargent demonstrates. Its team includes professionals from the US, Switzerland, mainland China and Cameroon as well as graduate returnees to Hong Kong.
Finally, let us recall that Hong Kong has in fact fostered a number of impressive innovators and inventions.
DJI, the world’s biggest maker of consumer drones, began as a graduate student project at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. C. C. Chan, one of the fathers of the electric vehicle, is still an Honorary Professor at Hong Kong University, while Charles Kao, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing the optical fibre systems that carry our internet traffic, is also a product of Hong Kong.
The city has sparked technology success stories in the past. We are now starting to glimpse its innovation future.
Allen Ma is CEO of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
 


Savvy tech investors showing confidence in Hong Kong

Allen Ma, CEO of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, says Hong Kong is starting to glimpse its innovation future. Photo: Edmond So

Savvy tech investors showing confidence in Hong Kong

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Food testing startup a recipe for hi-tech success

Food testing startup a recipe for hi-tech success