The frequently heard refrain in Hong Kong is that there just aren’t many young people interested in startups or entrepreneurship. Nothing could have been further from the truth when we kicked off our Empowering Young Entrepreneurs Program with the Chinese University of Hong Kong this past Sunday. With more than 500 attendees and over 900 applicants within a few short months of announcing the program, it is clear that there is no shortage of young people who want to take fresh approaches to Hong Kong’s economy.
More than 600 people packed the room at the kickoff of the EYE Program
Dominic Allon, Managing Director of Google Hong Kong, delivering remarks at the launch
In the last two years, Hong Kong has seen a remarkable amount of startup activity. InvestHK’s
StartmeupHK Venture Programme 2013 attracted over 384 ventures from 39 countries. Several startups in Hong Kong have also gone global, such as comedy site
9GAG, which raised USD 2.8 million in seed funding and according to founder Ray Chan, attracts 2 billion pageviews a month.
We received applications from a diverse range of candidates, from former bankers now looking to make their way in the startup world, to skilled developers who have built apps in their spare time and need guidance to bring them to market. Program participants will now begin a one-year training and mentorship program that will help them sharpen their entrepreneurial skills and thinking, and build the best possible business models to realize their ideas.
The Economist aptly describes the world as being in a
Cambrian moment, where cheap and ubiquitous building blocks for digital products and services are driving an entrepreneurial explosion. This has given rise to startup “ecosystems” emerging in big cities. "Innovation and technology are not only economic drivers; they can also upgrade our quality of life and enhance the efficiency of our community," said Chief Executive C.Y. Leung in his annual
Policy Address. With its free flow of information, superb infrastructure and international outlook, Hong Kong has certainly got the fundamentals in place.
Posted by Andy Yee, Public Policy Lead, Google Hong Kong
1 comment :
good news!
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