The document provides an overview of the Hong Kong startup scene. It summarizes Casey Lau's experience in Hong Kong tech startups and the growth of StartupsHK, a community he co-founded that has grown from 6 to over 5,000 members in 3 years. It also outlines various incubators/accelerators, co-working spaces, networking events, and challenges facing the Hong Kong startup ecosystem such as a lack of local Series A investors and clear exit strategies.

1. Casey Lau
@casey_lau
Updated and revised: JUNE 18, 2014
INTRO TO THE
HONG KONG STARTUP
SCENE

2. INTRODUCTION
‣ 15 years in tech startup industry in Hong Kong.
‣ Launched 1st e-commerce site in HK.
‣ Sold 2 startups, 1 failed, 1 exists.
‣ Startup Morpheus.
CASEY LAU
CO-FOUNDER, STARTUPSHK
COMMUNITY MANAGER APAC, SOFTLAYER CATALYST

3. CYBERPORTCIRCA 2009

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CAFE HABITUCIRCA 2009

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BOOTHKCIRCA 2010

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9. 9

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11. ‣ 6 to 5000 members in 3 years.
‣ Entrepreneurs, media, students, investors.
‣ Meet-ups, conferences, networking events.
‣ Membership program.
‣ Matchmaker.
‣ Voice outside HK.
INTRO TO THE HONG KONG STARTUP SCENE
STARTUPS HK
11

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5,000+ Subscribers
TREMENDOUS REACH ON SOCIAL MEDIA (JUNE 2014)
3,200+ Fans
11,000+ Views
2,600+ Members
6,700+ Followers
50,000+ Visitors/month
12

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TRACKING HK ANGELS AND VENTURE GROUPS
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INCUBATORS/ACCELERATORS
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Incubation Centre

15. Startup Saturday 2010 - Our first event! Expected: 100 people. Actual: 500 attendees!
Keynote: Douglas Young, Founder of G.O.D.

16. Pitch Night: 100-200 attend in conjunction with global Social Media Week 2012. Live streaming online to 500+ more. CNN coverage.

17. Startup Weekend: 48-hours to form a team and pitch your start-up idea. Over 1000 entrants since 2010.

18. Startup Saturday 2011: Annual 1-day conference. 700 people attended with guests Dave McClure of 500 Startups and
Brian Chesky of AirBNB.com.

19. Startup Saturday: Mobilliance 2013

20. H3: Hacker/Huster/Hipster Networking Event

21. CoCoon Pitch Night raised HK$11.5 million for startups since January.

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WHAT MAKES HONG KONG SPECIAL?
‣ Business registration
‣ Strong IP law
‣ International community
‣ Not China, Not South East Asia
‣ SME City/resources

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‣ MailTime: US$500K
‣ SnapTee: US$650K
‣ OpenBall: US$750K
‣ HotelQuickly: US$1.1 million
‣ AfterShip: US$1 million
‣ Bindo: US$1.8 million
‣ 9Gag: US$2.8 million
‣ DeMyst: US$5 million
‣ WeLab: US$14 million
KEY STARTUP INVESTMENTS

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STARTUP GROWTH IN HONG KONG

29. 2011

30. 2014

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BIG TECH COMPANIES IN HONG KONG

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HONG KONG’S EXITS

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HONG KONG’S FUNDED STARTUPS

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MY PICKS FOR MOST PROMISING STARTUPS

35. HONG KONG’S STARTUP LEADERS
INTRO TO THE HONG KONG STARTUP SCENE 35
Ray Chan
Founder, 9gag
Yat Siu
Founder, Outblaze
David Zhu
Co-Founder, Divide
!

36. HONG KONG’S ANGEL INVESTORS
INTRO TO THE HONG KONG STARTUP SCENE 36
Tytus Michalski
Fresco Capital
Melissa Guzy
Arbor Partners
Felix Lam
Red Chapel
!

37. HONG KONG’S STARTUP CONNECTORS
INTRO TO THE HONG KONG STARTUP SCENE 37
Elaine Tsung
Garage Society
Charles Ng
InvestHK
Gene Soo
StartupsHK
!

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VENTURE CAPITAL
‣ Not many active local VC’s/
Private Equity.
‣ Some startups can secure seed
in HK but need to go overseas
for Series A.
‣ Government grants a good start.
‣ New influx of Angels.
‣ No big tech companies for exits.
38

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HK IS NOT SILICON VALLEY, WILL NEVER BE
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THIS IS HONG KONG FROM OUTSIDE
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THIS IS HONG KONG FROM INSIDE
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GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
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‣ Science Park ‣ Cyberport

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CO-WORKSPACES
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‣ The Hive
‣ Wan Chai
‣ SME’s
‣ Asia offices
‣ Startups
‣ Dedicated

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CO-WORKSPACES
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‣ CoCoon
‣ North Point
‣ Startups
‣ Accelerators
‣ Events

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CO-WORKSPACES
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‣ The Good Lab
‣ Cheung Sha Wan
‣ Social Enterprises
‣ Startups
‣ Dedicated
!

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CO-WORKSPACES
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‣ PaperClipHK
‣ Sheung Wan
‣ Academy
‣ Desks
‣ Eventspace
!

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CO-WORKSPACES
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‣ Garage Society
‣ Central
‣ General Assembly
‣ Hot desks and offices
‣ $$$
!

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WYND
49

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THEHIVEKTOWN
THELOFT
80/80SPACE
INNOVATIONLAB
RETROSPOT
PLATFORM
DIMSUMLABS
SMARTSPACE
THECRAFTIES
OBI-ONE

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HONG KONG CHALLENGES
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‣ Series A Investors
‣ Clear Exit Strategies
‣ Education
‣ Work Visas
‣ Talent

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HK CHINESE CYNICISM
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‣ Parental restrictions
‣ Property/Stocks
‣ Bank hiring
‣ Low tech education
‣ Role Models
‣ Globalization
‣ Fear of Failure

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BAD IDEAS
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‣ Happy Hour Apps
‣ Co-Workspace without clear value
‣ Startup without validation
‣ Not in industry you understand
!
GOOD IDEAS
‣ Anything that gets traction
‣ Mentorship programs
‣ PRoFiL: Property, Retail,
Finance, Logistics
‣ Change the world or at least
the Enterprise.

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$1M INVESTMENT MILESTONES
PRODUCT TEAM TRACTION
‣ Enterprise: 1,000 seats @ US$10/seat per month.
‣ Big Enterprise: 2 Pilot contracts. Some $$$
‣ Social: 100K+ downloads/signups
‣ Ecommerce: US$50K revenue/month
58
http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/22/want-to-raise-a-million-bucks-heres-what-youll-need/
Via Ash Fontana of AngelList

59. ‣ 88-gong.com
‣ JobsDB.com
‣ LinkedIn
‣ startbase.recruit.net
INTRO TO THE HONG KONG STARTUP SCENE
HIRING + JOBS
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NETWORKING EVENTS
‣ StartupsHK.com Calendar
‣ Web Wednesday
‣ Mobile Monday
‣ Startup Grind
‣ Co-Workspace Events
‣ TiE
‣ Catalyst After Office Hours
‣ OpenData Hong Kong
‣ SME Creativity Center
‣ Startup Weekend
‣ Internet Society
‣ HK Social
‣ H3

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BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM
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‣ Networking
‣ Sharing
‣ Education
‣ TRANSPARENCY!
!

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SYNC UP WITH HONG KONG
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>STARTUPSHK.COM
NEWS&CALENDAR
!
>STARTBASE.HK
DIRECTORY&JOBS

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CASEY@STARTUPSHK.COM
LINKEDIN
ANGELLIST
@CASEY_LAU
!