The ‘rehab Iron Man’: Hong Kong tech start-up owner creates products from robotic gloves to smart fitness mirrors
- Co-founded by Alvin Cheung, who is on the Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30 Asia’ list, HandyRehab launched in 2015 and aims to make rehabilitation robotics accessible and affordable locally
- Aside from self-developed products, the company is working with other local and overseas firms to introduce customised items for the Hong Kong market
When Alvin Cheung Ho-ching and his partner launched their tech start-up six years ago, it marked the beginning of a journey to make rehabilitation robotics accessible and affordable to Hong Kong residents in need.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business from Chinese University, Cheung, now 28, did not follow most of his classmates into a career in business and finance. Instead, he began researching a field he knew little about: health care.
The local sector, the native Hongkonger quickly found, relied largely on outdated facilities and equipment, and had huge room for growth, particularly in the research and development area.
“The products in this sector have a direct impact on users and can make a real difference,” Cheung says in a recent interview. “I wanted to seize the opportunity to start something new while I was young.”
Based out of a Tsuen Wan co-working place, the company now has 10 staff developing new products and commercialising them, and Cheung recently landed on Forbes’ “30 Under 30 Asia” list – a celebration of young entrepreneurs – in the health care and science category for 2021.
With a focus on developing robotics for physical rehabilitation, HandyRehab’s first creation was a lightweight and wireless robotic glove that allows stroke patients to exercise their paralysed hands and regain motor control.
When a patient wears the robotic glove, it takes directions via a remote control or mobile app and performs simple movements such as extending a hand or holding a phone.