Yesterday’s Silicon Dragon Hong Kong 2014 at Cyberport featured a stacked panel line-up, with speakers from the US, China and Hong Kong chatting about finance, tech and innovation.
Organized by Silicon Dragon Ventures founder Rebecca Fannin, the panels were flanked by expert commentators including our own Allison Baum of Fresco Capital Advisors and Yat Siu of Outblaze. StartupsHK founders Casey Lau and Jon Buford also took the stage to discuss the future of adaptive manufacturing.
In a discussion-style format, Ron Cao, the lead VC investor in Bitcoin exchange BTC China in Shanghai, and Zack Smith, co-founder of 3D printer producer Makerbot took the lead chat spotlight. Click here to see the full list of speakers.
Ron talked in depth about Bitcoin use in China, and he said that the virtual currency is revolutionary from a VC perspective, but most people still don’t have a complete picture. “Mainstream media only covers Bitcoin from a government regulatory standpoint, but there are so many other ways to look at it,” he said. “P2P, micro, mobile and especially cross-border payments are ideal for Bitcoin.”
Robotics-enthusiast Zack, who splits his time between the US and Shenzhen, calls the Chinese city just north of Hong Kong ‘the best place in the world for hackers, tinkerers and builders to make stuff.’ Citing access to raw talent, logistics and manufacturers as several pros, Zack says that Shenzhen startups are among the most dedicated. “Startups that come to Shenzhen are serious. Because it’s a long flight from the US – they are not your weekend warrior.”
(tech chat commentators)
Another notable speaker was Insight Robotics founder Rex Sham, who invented WALL-E like wildfire-detection robots. Tackling the issue where a startling 98% of wildfires are set off by humans burning garbage in the forest (which is responsible for 30% of carbon emissions), Rex says that Insight’s future efforts will be put into developing drones that can carry fire extinguishing grenades.
Interesting discussions about Hong Kong’s future as an investment landscape continued into the VC, angel and deal makers panel. Rebecca, who moderated the panel, said that newly created government-backed venture arms have been a great help to the ecosystem as they understand Hong Kong’s advantages better than most.
Adam Lindemann, managing partner of Mind Fund, praised the tenacity and passion of Hong Kong’s young startup scene. “There are so many entrepreneurs and seed funds putting a lot into the ecosystem,” he said. Our own Felix Lam of Red Chapel Advisors, who can take credit for introducing Adam to Hong Kong’s startup scene, said that backing disruptive ideas has been a great learning experience. “As investors, we typically like to stick with what we know, but in early stage investing – we get to learn and experience a new space.”
With a great turn out of 300+ people, the event served as a symposium for entrepreneurs, VCs, angels and startup mentors in Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, New York and China to chat about the future.
Highlights from the event:
