International start-ups still see Hong Kong as a fundraising centre despite social unrest, says boss of AngelHub crowdfunding platform
- AngelHub has received over 500 applications to enter a fundraising competition in the city to win US$1 million
- This demonstrates that Hong Kong ‘is a fundraising hub for start-ups, offering great investment opportunities,’ says chief executive Karen Contet Farzam
Young international start-ups – and the investors who back them – still see Hong Kong as a key fundraising hub despite almost eight months of social unrest that have savaged the economy, according to the city’s first equity crowdfunding platform.
AngelHub, which was licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission last April as the first crowdfunding platform for professional investors to back growth stage start-ups, has completed three deals already.
And an international competition for start-ups to win a fundraising windfall has had no shortage of applicants.
“We have received over 500 applications from start-ups around the world to join this fundraising competition programme and nobody has expressed any worry about coming to Hong Kong to attend the grand final event,” said AngelHub co-founder and chief executive Karen Contet Farzam.
“This demonstrates that Hong Kong is a fundraising hub for start-ups and offering great investment opportunities.”
The platform recently held a mega round of fundraising which helped Pomelo, a Thai fashion e-commerce start-up, to raise US$52 million in fresh funding from a group of investors including some leading venture capital companies such as Jungle Ventures, JD.com and Thai retailer Central Group. Two smaller deals raised a combined US$2.5 million, according to Contet Farzam.