This year has stirred Hong Kong into an accelerator-launching frenzy as many corporates seize the opportunity to enter the tech investment space.
Besides Accenture’s ‘FinTech Innovation Lab’ launching back in June, Swire Properties’ ‘blueprint’ for B2B startups has also arrived on the scene. And now? Pan-Asian life insurance group AIA teams up with investment incubator Nest to create a new accelerator program for wearable tech and healthcare startups.
The 12-week program, which is ‘no strings attached’ and free to startups, will bring on eight companies where they’ll be supported through their business growth and development journey.
“Entrepreneurs often try to develop solutions to problems that are most relevant to their daily lives,” said Simon Squibb – CEO of Nest Investments. “Since healthcare and lifestyle are big on the priority list for people in Asia, we believe startups in this region are particularly well-placed to disrupt the future of industries like healthcare and insurance.”
Besides being mentored by gurus in the wearables and healthcare space, they’ll also have access to the Nest, AIA, Amazon and Microsoft network. Although the program is being housed at Science Park, hot desks will be made available at Nest for those startups that need to stay central.
In typical accelerator fashion, startups graduating from the AIA Accelerator will end their schooling with a ‘Demo Day’ and ‘Public Investor Demo Day’ in June 2015.
Applications close on January 31st in anticipation for a March 2015 start.
Apply for the program here!
WATCH: CNN Think Tank episode on why Hong Kong is the best place to launch a startup – featuring Simon Squibb of Nest and Ben Cheng of Oursky.
