Cyberport readies HK$200m to aid start-ups
The funds, to be spent over three years, aim to spur expansion abroad and on the mainland
Cyberport announced yesterday that it would invest HK$200 million to support new technology companies over the next three years, with an emphasis on helping Hong Kong-based start-ups expand overseas and on the mainland.
"Hong Kong itself is too small. We will focus on boosting start-ups' fundraising capability, connecting them with funding sources overseas … and building collaborations with international partners," Cyberport chief executive Herman Lam Heung-yeung said.
In the past year, the hi-tech campus had established an e-commerce exchange and a young entrepreneur programme with Guangdong province.
It has also set up a Shanghai representative office to help Hong Kong start-ups operate more effectively on the mainland.
The amount the government venture has committed to spend from next year to 2017 is double the amount it invested during its previous three-year plan, which largely went towards incubation, training programmes and "micro funds" for more than 200 start-ups.
The complex has been criticised in the past for not giving enough back to the local community - 60 per cent of its incubated companies were founded by non-native Hongkongers.
