More academics could be tempted into becoming entrepreneurs as universities accumulate spin-off companies and push for them to be publicly listed.
City University (CityU) led the way this week by announcing details of its plans to list TeleEye Holdings, one of its start-up companies, on the Growth Enterprise Market on May 8. It is the first time a tertiary institution in Hong Kong has sought a public listing for one of its spin-off firms.
TeleEye was founded in 1994 by two CityU graduate students and two electronic engineering professors, Chan Cheung-fat and Chan Chok-ki. The latter resigned from the university last December to become TeleEye's chief executive officer.
CityU helped start up the company, which specialises in video image compression technology, with an initial loan of $300,000. The university owns about 17 per cent of the company, with the rest now allocated to the public, its founders and one Japanese investor. TeleEye, which also provides video and audio monitoring systems for security surveillance through phone lines, the Internet or wireless networks, hopes to raise $30 million from the flotation to fund overseas expansion.
The company may not be the only spin-off firm on the stock market for long. The University of Science and Technology (HKUST), which has 22 spin-off companies set up by graduate students and faculty staff under its entrepreneurial programme, is expecting to apply for several to be listed in two years.
Tony Eastham, president of RandD Corporation, HKUST's commercial research and development arm, said it was seeking to expand its entrepreneurial programme. 'Setting up start-up programmes is one way of transferring technology to the private sector. We hope the companies can eventually be listed. This is a desirable step in the evolution of technology,' he said.
Two years ago HKUST set up an incubation centre offering office facilities, administrative support and business links for staff and students wishing to commercialise their ideas. The university holds minority shares in their companies. HKUST staff can apply for up to two years' leave from teaching to concentrate on their business, and limited start-up funds are available.