A diaper from Hunan Beiyou Technology that tells you when it needs to be changed? Sounds like every mother’s dream - and this Hong Kong start-up is hoping to find backers at Cyberport. Photo: SCMP Pictures
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https://scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/1914135/free-showroom-hong-kong-based-start-ups-chinas-ingdan-launching-new Tech
Free showroom for Hong Kong-based start-ups: China’s Ingdan launching new exhibition centre at Cyberport
Smart diapers and ‘floating’ wireless speakers among first batch of goods to be showcased at 6,000-sq-ft IngDan experience centre
The new centre will open in March. Photo: Handout
Start-ups in Hong Kong will have a free platform to court investors from March at a new exhibition space created by Chinese incubator Ingdan at Cyberport, a government-funded industry park on Hong Kong Island.
The move comes at a time when the local government is providing more financial assistance to new technology companies in a bid to help the city’s start-up ecosystem develop and compete with Chinese powerhouses like Shenzhen and Beijing.
To this end, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying established a HK$2 billion Innovation and Technology Venture Fund last month in his policy address, shortly after creating an Innovation and Technology Bureau last November.
The gadgets to be featured at the new 6,000-sq-ft IngDan experience centre include a smart diaper that tells mothers when it needs to be changed and a wireless speaker that uses maglev technology to float above its base unit, according to Ingdan.
Some 40 per cent of the start-ups on show will hail from Hong Kong. There will also be a “a lot from mainland China” and a certain percentage from different countries, according to Vivia Wang, vice president of Ingdan.
Interested start-ups can register on Ingdan’s website and have their products displayed at the centre free of charge, she added.
The latest addition to Cyberport comes as a number of bodies from mainland China are starting to join Hong Kong’s start-up scene.
Tus Holdings, which operates Tsinghua University Science Park in Beijing, launched an innovation centre to provide cheap office space for start-ups in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay last year.
Tus Holdings has opened three additional centres in Hong Kong in the last 12 months.
Meanwhile, the Beijing-backed Hong Kong International Entrepreneurs Festival (HKIEF) drew investments worth over 200 million yuan (US$30.66 billion) for start-ups in the city last year.
Founded in 2013, Ingdan aims to facilitate hardware start-ups with supply chain resources and connect them with investors. It is owned by Hong Kong-listed Cogobuy Group, a leading e-commerce platform for electronic components.