Hong Kong start-up festival strives to draw 20,000 attendees amid city’s push to be a tech hub
- StartmeupHK, which takes place in November this year, will mark its first full return to physical events since the Covid-19 pandemic
- The conference is seen as a bellwether for sentiment in the Hong Kong tech industry, which was endorsed by President Xi Jinping
The StartmeupHK Festival, Hong Kong’s government-backed annual showcase for young technology companies, aims to attract more than 20,000 attendees to its first fully physical event since the Covid-19 pandemic, as the city woos global talent and investment in a push to become an innovation hub.
The conference will take place from November 8 to 17 this year, with events covering themes from health and environmental technologies to Web3 and property tech, according to InvestHK, Hong Kong’s investment promotion agency and the organiser of the event.
The bureau expects the festival to feature more than 500 speakers and draw thousands of participants from more than 100 countries and regions, InvestHK said on Tuesday.
This year marks the first full return to offline events for StartmeupHK in three years, according to Jayne Chan, head of StartmeupHK. A global health emergency had disrupted international travel and prevented many participants from attending in person in previous years.
More than 20,000 people joined last year’s festival, which included both online and offline events, Chan said.
The conference is seen as a bellwether for sentiment in the Hong Kong tech industry, which is looking to receive a policy boost from the local government.
Xi had told scientists and researchers during a visit in July last year to the Science Park, the city’s largest research and development base, that he envisaged Hong Kong as China’s international innovation and technology hub.
In a blueprint laid out in December, the Hong Kong government said it aims to increase the number of start-ups in the city from 3,755 in 2021 to around 7,000 in 2032, and the number of locally-based unicorns – privately-held companies valued at over US$1 billion – from 12 to 30 over the same time frame.
Hong Kong also aims to strengthen its I&T workforce by increasing the number of industry professionals from 45,310 to no fewer than 100,000, according to the plan.
The Hong Kong Investment Corporation will manage four funds totalling HK$62 billion (US$8 billion), including the HK$30 billion Co-Investment Fund tasked with investing in businesses that it wants to bring to Hong Kong.
