Hong Kong lawmaker’s start-up accelerator aims to lure 1,000 Web3 businesses to the city, as the industry looks to future after FTX
- The accelerator’s new program targeting Web3 companies is named ‘Hong Kong Web3.0 Hub’
- G-Rocket is a start-up accelerator co-founded by Legislative Council member Johnny Ng Kit-chong in 2016
G-Rocket, a start-up accelerator co-founded by Legislative Council member Johnny Ng Kit-chong in 2016, is aiming to help 1,000 Web3 start-ups set up their businesses in Hong Kong in the next three years, as the city’s government pledges to restore its status as a virtual asset hub.
The accelerator’s new program targeting Web3 companies, named “Hong Kong Web3.0 Hub”, was launched last month after Hong Kong announced a push to boost its virtual asset industry, and has already drawn more than 150 start-ups to sign up, Casper Wong, co-founder and CEO of G-Rocket, told the South China Morning Post in an interview on Wednesday.
Web3 is a loosely defined, next-generation version of the World Wide Web that is decentralised and distributed through the use of blockchain and similar technologies.
Most of the founders who have registered for G-Rocket’s new Web3 program are Chinese entrepreneurs based in Singapore, North America and Dubai who are now considering coming back to Hong Kong, according to Wong. Some are also based in mainland China and seeking to relocate to the city, he said.
The accelerator, a subsidiary of Ng’s venture capital firm Goldford Group, is hoping that by the second quarter next year, it can help 100 Web3 start-ups kick off their operations in Hong Kong, and 1,000 in the coming three years, Wong added.
The latest cryptocurrency crash came just last month, when the world’s then second-largest crypto exchange FTX quickly imploded following revelations about malpractice.