Hong Kong Trade Development Council Incubator Opens Applications To Startups

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Do you run a startup under five years old with less than US$10 million in funding?

If so, you could be eligible for a new programme launched by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong businesses.

“Start-up Express is our new initiative to connect entrepreneurs with potential partners and investors, and help them expand businesses in the global market through a wide range of programmes,” says Raymond Yip, acting executive director of HKTDC, in a statement.

A total of 40 startups will be invited to a closed-door pitching session, with 20 finalists selected to attend a public pitching contest at the HKTDC Entrepreneur Day event on 18 May. The top 10 will be invited to join the Start-up Express programme.

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8 Securities Receives $US 25 Million Investment under a Strategic Partnership with Nomura Asset Management

8 Securities Group announced it has agreed to receive a total of $US 25 million Series C investment from Nomura Asset Management. The investment demonstrates the promising growth and potential of robo-advisory services in Asia including Japan, and marks one of Asia’s largest fintech capital injections so far in 2018.

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Entrepreneur First expands to Hong Kong

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When Silicon Valley’s Greylock Partners led Entrepreneur First‘s $12.4 million funding round in September, Greylock’s Reid Hoffman said he could see the company builder expanding to “20 or 30 or 40 cities, maybe even 50“. Since then, EF has expanded to Berlin, in addition to existing programmes in London and Singapore, and today the so-called ‘talent first’ investor is adding Hong Kong to the list

Heading up EF’s Hong Kong office is former Airbnb and Google exec Lavina Tien, while the Hong Kong programme, which kicks off in July, will copy the Berlin format, meaning that it will run for 3 months per cohort, not 6 months as in London and Singapore. In addition, teams formed at EF Hong Kong will be eligible to participate in its Singapore demo day.

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