Hong Kong’s HK$300 million Youth Development Fund set to dish out more cash to help start-ups develop their business locally or in Greater Bay Area
- Fund, set up by the government in 2016, will increase its matching grant to NGOs to finance entrepreneurship projects
- Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung also says there will be money available for NGOs to organise visits to start-up bases in the bay area
Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung also announced on Friday that there would be funds available for non-governmental groups to organise visits to start-up bases in the bay area, Beijing’s envisioned technology and economic hub that would rival Silicon Valley and the Tokyo Bay area. It includes Hong Kong, Macau and nine neighbouring mainland cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
“Youth work is one of the government’s priorities,” Cheung said. “We wish to collect resources from different sectors to provide better support and funding for Hong Kong’s young start-ups.”
Under the new initiatives, the HK$300 million (US$38.5 million) Youth Development Fund, set up by the government in 2016, will increase its matching grant to NGOs to finance their youth entrepreneurship projects. So each successful NGO applicant chips in funding and the government will match it with three times the amount. The previous ratio was 1:2.
The maximum government input will be capped at HK$4.5 million per NGO.
During the first funding round in 2016, nine NGOs received grants and assisted about 100 start-ups.
