Start-ups duke it out in US$3m pitching showdown in Hong Kong
Three start-ups knock out 70 others in the third semi-final of the pitching competition, which focused on wearables, IoT devices and education technology products
Hong Kong’s answer to Google Glass, an environment-sensing safety helmet – these are start-up ideas that have emerged victorious in the latest round of a pitching competition, and vying for up to US$3 million in investment.
The Jumpstarter competition, intended to give the city’s start-up scene a shot in the arm, was launched in April by the Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, Alibaba Group’s not-for-profit initiative, together with the city’s Cyberport and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks.
Three months in, the competition is firing on all cylinders, as it concluded last Thursday its third semi-final out of a total of eight separate semi-final pitches, covering a slew of trending technologies such as fintech, e-commerce and artificial intelligence.
In last week’s showdown, three start-ups, BeeInventor, Mad Gaze and Robo Wunderkind, toppled 70 other startups in their category, which focuses on wearables, IoT (internet of things) devices and education technology products, to advance into the final.
At the final in November, there will be three winners and each is promised up to US$1 million of investment from the fund.
Mad Gaze, a winner from last week, is a Hong Kong-based company which produces smart augmented reality headsets à la Google Glass.