The Bay Area has seen a whole lot of Hong Kong as of late. While our own Shopline has been accelerating with 500 Startups and the Cyberport Delegation to the US has come and gone, six teams (HITA, Jobdoh, Myflat.HK, Optica, Talk-Now and Trafluence) from the Google EYE program will be visiting the tech giant’s HQ in Mountain View from October 19-24.
After the program launched in February, 900+ participants teamed up, wrote business plans and went through multidisciplinary training to learn entrepreneurship and tech know-how. 40 teams were then selected to enter the second mentorship-focused stage of the program, where they refined their business plans and built their prototypes.
Eight months later, six teams were chosen to visit Mountain View to meet with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors. We had a chat with all six teams and asked them two questions: ‘What did you get out of the Google EYE program?’ and ‘What are you hoping to get out of Mountain View?’
#1 HITA (Hands In The Air):
Who are they? A new digital music service that lets users discover indie music from both the web and their smartphone.
Team: Eddie Lin, SL Ho and Ryan Wong. Besides HITA, the three founders also own an IT consulting firm. Before startup life, Lin was in banking, Ho was in IT consultancy and Wong was in recruitment.
What did you learn from the Google EYE program?
The HITA team had their mentor Jonathan Wong to thank for his expertise in media and business planning, and the co-founders learned the startup roles they would work best in. Besides learning how to bootstrap their business, the EYE program taught them to how to create a global and scalable business.
What do you hope to get out of the Mountain View visit?
The HITA team said that ‘technical exchange’ and ‘raising funds’ are their main goals of the Mountain View trip. Besides connecting with local universities and chatting with students interested in startups and R&D, HITA hopes to raise funds through pitching and face-to-face chats with US investors.
#2 Jobdoh
Who are they? A last minute booking and scheduling platform for casual workers.
Team: Xania Wong, Eric Fong and Mary Cheung. While Wong used to be an investment analyst, Fong is a full-stack developer and Cheung has a background in consumer goods design.
What did you learn from the Google EYE program?
The EYE program taught them both hard and soft skills such as business execution and EQ management. Besides praising their mentors, these three founders learned how to run a startup, which includes collaborating with teammates hailing from business, design and engineering backgrounds.
What do you hope to get out of the Mountain View visit?
Learning, collaborating and idea sharing with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and investors is what the Jobdoh team looks forward to the most. They believe that living and breathing the ‘move fast and break things’ motto, even for a week, will have an impact on how they grow their startup.
#3 Myflat.HK
Who are they? A neighborhood social network for Hong Kong to encourage sharing culture among locals
Team: Matthew Tam, Antony Wong, Chi Wai Li, Eric Chan and Copland Ng. Before co-founding Myflat.HK, Tam was in banking, Wong was already an entrepreneur, Li was in web design and online marketing, Chan was an accountant with a passion for coding and Ng was an IT consultant.
What did you learn from the Google EYE program?
The most valuable takeaway was getting connected with their mentor Alex Cheng, as he helped the Myflat.HK team avoid commonly made startup mistakes. The EYE program has also helped Myflat.HK gain more credibility in Hong Kong, whether it’s having partners or media outlets approach them.
What do you hope to get out of Mountain View?
Besides pitching to investors as they are looking to inject some funding into their startup, Myflat.HK also looks at the trip to Mountain View as an opportunity to showcase the potential of the Hong Kong startup scene.
#4 Optica
Who are they? An innovator in ‘Smart Vision’ using technology to enhance the power of the human eye. Partners include film, post-production, aerial and UAV companies.
Team: Jeremy Lai, Samuel Shen and Alex Zhou. While Lai was previously in private equity, Shen and Zhou are both university researchers specializing in image enhancements and interactive arts, respectively.
What did you learn from the Google EYE program?
The Optica team not only overcame the initial challenges and doubts they had for their product, but also reaffirmed their passion for entrepreneurship.
What do you hope to get out of Mountain View?
The Optica team looks forward to connecting with Silicon Valley’s technological, scientific and business community and believes their expertise and connections will speed up their startup developments by 5+ years.
#5 Trafluence
Who are they? An online marketplace that connects tourism-dependent service providers with talented and influential globetrotters.
Team: Cynthia Cheung and Edward Leung Zheng. Both co-founders are passionate social entrepreneurs that have helped homeless artists, the disabled and disadvantaged children in Hong Kong.
What did you learn from Google EYE?
The Trafluence team learned how to build a user-driven startup through the EYE program and worked closely with their users and stakeholders to build a product they love. Also, the EYE program taught them how to prepare and execute a great pitch via practice and feedback.
What do you hope to get out of Mountain View?
After hearing ‘fairy-tale’-like rumors about Google HQ and Silicon Valley, the Trafluence team can’t wait to experience it firsthand. They’re looking forward to learning from a vibrant startup atmosphere, improve their pitching skills and connect with service providers.
#6 Talk-Now
Who are they? A wearable device that helps those with hearing and speech disabilities translate sign language into spoken language on mobile devices.
Team: Novus is the startup behind their ‘Talk-Now’ wearable. Before starting the project, Novus’ three core team members were working in embedded system design, power and circuit development and sales and marketing.
What have you learned from the EYE program?
The Novus team cites the inter-disciplinary training as great help for their product development process. Besides help from their mentor in building a business network, EYE also grew Novus’ passion to help the elderly and disabled through technology.
What do you hope to get out of Mountain View?
The Novus team will be looking to connect with potential investors who share a similar dream and vision to help the disabled and elderly, and to form global partnerships.
