Hong Kong as a Startup Hub: Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen
Hong Kong as a Startup Hub in a Network Economy
Each startup ecosystem is unique with its own
economic, social and political underpinnings.
Hong Kong could not emulate directly the success of Silicon Valley, or
that of other startup hubs in the world.
Hong Kong Needs More Than Tech Talents
Globalization and technology have made it much easier nowadays for people from
different locations to work and collaborate with one another. It also means that it does not matter where
scientific discoveries and breakthrough technologies originate — the important
thing is who commercializes them. Seen from this perspective, Hong Kong needs not just more tech
talents, but also designers, product development and marketing specialists as
well as professionals who understand technology and innovation and are experts
in commercialization.
Not So Much About Funding – But Capacity Building
Many stakeholders believe that the seemingly lack of risk capital is
just a symptom of the early stage development of the Hong Kong startup
ecosystem. Hong Kong should invest in attracting global accelerators to Hong Kong and
developing special access for local startups in accelerator programs located in
top startup ecosystems.
Positioning Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a city that works and works fast. It is well positioned to be an accelerator for startups
to build and scale their international business and to realise their global
ambitions. Hong Kong should:
- Plays to its
strengths as a service economy: Innovation (whether it is technology or
non-technology related) is likely to accelerate in many services, within
the service sector itself as well as through the “servitisation” of the
manufacturing industry. Hong Kong is a service economy, and should take pride
in and ride on its achievements.
- Be A Super Connector to the World: Connectivity is the new
currency in a globalised, digital and knowledge economy. In a network economy, Hong Kong is well positioned to play the role
of a ‘Super Connector’ in linking ideas, capital, talents, production
facilities and markets.
- Serve as a Test Market: Hong Kong is an ideal
place for market validation – for both B2C and B2B businesses.
Catalysts for Growth
To fully realise Hong Kong’s potential as a startup hub, different players in the ecosystem need to build and strengthen their global
footprints and connections. Hong Kong also has to strengthen its role as a
“Customer” of innovation. Both the private and the public sectors need to see the value of working
with startups as their innovation partners.
Policy makers and regulators have to understand the nature of
startup businesses, striking a balance between enabling disruption to happen
and ensuring that public interests are protected. The Hong Kong startup
ecosystem should not be restricted by the geographical confines of the HKSAR
but is intimately connected with the ecosystems in the Pearl River Delta and to
the world.
根據以三藩市為基地的Compass在上年7月發布的2015年全球生態系統排名，香港在全球發展最快的新創企業生態系統中排名第五位，總體排名則為全球第25位。 「香港是完全能夠發展強大的新創企業生態系統，但創業者必先提升國際化及視野。」這是Compass在2016年1月29日發布關於香港新創企業生態報告的最重要訊息。許多投資者認為香港新創企業生態系統看似缺乏風險資本，其中最重要原因便是缺少具國際市場潛力的初創企業。
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