2014 has definitely be a bumpy year for Hong Kong. Since 1997 and the end of 155 years of British rule, “Asia’s world city” has been trying to remain independent from China, which is all but a given.
To be clear, Hong Kong is still not China, from a culture, mindset, freedom, ease of doing business perspective, it’s two countries. But the border is small, and the projects of the Chinese government to merge it with neighboring Shenzhen and Guangzhou may not be only bluff.
Since 2009, Hong Kong knows a true tech revival, and, to the contrary of so many emerging markets, without any help of the local government, better known for its laissez-faire policy.
A few events such as Startup Saturday, the first coworking space (Boot HK) have launched after an embryo of a tech community felt they needed more than a bar to do their meetups, and since then, other coworking spaces, accelerators, and even government initiatives have been popping up all across the city-state.
Where it becomes really interesting is that the two traditional strengths of the Hong Kong economy have turned digital.
On one hand, manufacturing has seen many startups launch, from Makibox and its cheap 3D printer to Protei and its DIY, open-source boats. Shenzhen is not far and you can feel the hardware culture is very strong.
On the other hand, bored bankers, whose reputation has been stalling since the financial crisis, turn into entrepreneurs. Startups such as 8Securities (social media + trading), WeLend (P2P real estate loans) have all raised around $10m.
A few success stories also have helped from CMS Strikingly to local buzzfeed-like 9Gag.
Overall, it’s fair to say the local community is very vivid, organically grown with little to no support from the state (except very recently), so visiting HK is usually made of authentic encounters with entrepreneurs who made it with their guts.
PROS
- High expertise in finance and bored bankers make good new startupers in fintech+ access to bankers capital for insiders
- Cheap manufacturing prices both in HK and nearby China
- Ease of starting a business and getting a visa, with no obligations to have HK residents in capital or employees
- Community-driven ecosystem with true dedication and hunger for success
- Entrepreneurial mindset
- Uncensored Internet, not so common in Asia, and not the case in China
CONS
- Small market of 8M inhabitants, not really connected to China (culturally, economically)
- No culture of risk from banks, which will not support startups until 2 years of revenue can be shown
- Lack of talent in specific areas, in particular design and UX/UI
- English is an official language but not always understood everywhere
- Not quite a gateway to China which has strong rules on startup (capital requirement, licences…)
- 0.73% only of GDP dedicated to R&D
- Real estate prices 30% > New York
TOP STARTUPS IN HONG-KONG (CHINA)
Protei makes DIY boats as makers do, with fast prototyping, DIY materials and Arduino electronics to get it to work
8 Securities is one of Asia’s most innovative and fastest growing online brokerages, adding social media to the value of stocks
WeLend is a peer-to-peer loan platform, with 5k users who have lent/borrowed about $300m in two years
BigColors is a platform for early-stage investors to trade their shares, advice and connections
TOP PEOPLE TO KNOW IN HONG-KONG (CHINA)
William Liang
Co-Founder
HackJam HK
Adjunct assistant Professor at UHK, director of Idea Mill Ltd., and Co-Founder of HackJam HK, Hong Kong’s first hackerspace community
Casey Lau
Co-Founder
StartupsHK
Co-Founder of StartupsHK, the new-born community movement of the startup scene
Jonathan Buford
Founder
Makible Ltd.
Co-Founder of BootHK and now Founder of Makible Ltd., a startup creating new ways of manufacturing items
Cedric Delzenne
Program Manager, Head of Hong Kong Office
fifty-five, the data agency
Heading the HK chapter of the Founders Institute and also Head of HK office for 55
Mikaal Abdulla
CEO and Co-Founder
8 Securities
Founder and CEO of 8Securities, one of the top fintech startups in HK. Previously worked for E*TRADE
Gregory So
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Government of the HKSAR
Hong Kong Secretary of Commerce and key player of Start Me Up, the tech-focused programe of InvestHK
HONG-KONG (CHINA)
| GDP (in billions USD): | 293 |
| GDP per capita (in USD): | 40,304 |
| Population: | 7,234,800 |
| Population in 2050 (est.): | 6,172,725 |
| Internet Penetration: | 80.9 % |
| Mobile Penetration: | 87 % |
| Banking Penetration: | 88 % |
| Credit Card Penetration: | 84 % |