Kick the starter, give it all you got and get out your calendars and book off the second week of November for Startmeup Week 2014!
The Invest HK-backed ‘StartmeupHK Venture Programme,’ received 550 applications hailing from 47 countries this year in its mission to attract entrepreneurial talent from around the world to Hong Kong. Besides encouraging foreign founders to use Hong Kong as their launchpad for the Asia-Pacific region, StartmeupHK’s aim is to showcase Hong Kong as an innovation and entrepreneurship hub.
Monday, November 10th
If you’ve been anticipating the launch of Swire Properties’ new B2B accelerator and co-working space, this is for you. blueprint will be hosting ‘beta blues,’ a night of live jazz, drinks, food and a sneak peak while the project is still in beta phase. The event is at 6pm – 9pm, 16/F, Cornwall House at TaiKoo Place and is open to the public.
Tuesday, November 11th
The ‘StartmeupHK Forum and Awards’ will have the 12 finalists pitching to a panel of judges and an audience of angels, VCs and business communities from Hong Kong and overseas. Entrepreneurs will be competing for three Grand Awards and three special awards for the categories of ‘Data Analytics,’ ‘Fintech,’ and ‘Smart City.’ Besides pitches, the event will also have keynote and panel speakers.
Wednesday, November 12th
StartupsHK’s day conference ‘Startups of Futures Past’ will be a look back at our startup scene’s growth from 2009 until now from the perspectives of startup scene pioneers, feature the hottest new startups of the moment and look at the next 5 years into Hong Kong’s future. This event will be from 9am-1pm at Hysan Place and early bird registration is open now.
Thursday, November 13th
MORNING:
- Wise City, an initiative of the French Chamber and Development Bureau, gathers representatives of the Hong Kong Government, major businesses from all sectors and local universities to explore options to lay down foundations for a more sustainable future. The conference runs from 8:4am-6pm – get more details and register here!
- Silicon Dragon, the global VC and entrepreneur network, will be hosting the ‘Entrepreneur of the City’ awards where winners will have the opportunity to present their startup strategy before a group of VCs. The event will be at Hysan Place from 5-9pm, register for that here!
EVENING:
Friday, November 14th
Wrapping the week will be the ‘TiE HK Investors’ Forum.’ The forum will feature successful local entrepreneurs and early-stage investors in a sharing session. The investor-focused event will also discuss the challenges that Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem faces and figure out the types of initiatives that will encourage more investment in entrepreneurship. Besides learning from veteran founders and investors, the event will also give the 12 StartmeupHK finalists a chance to pitch their startups to the crowd. More details on the forum here!
Saturday, November 15th
But wait, the weekend has even more in store – starting with BarCamp. The unconference hailing from Silicon Valley often focuses on early-stage web apps, related open source tech, social protocols and open data formats where all content comes from attendees. With no fixed schedule or speaker list, anyone can host a session and launch and demo a project. Register for it here!
Friday – Sunday, November 14th – 16th
What’s a better closer for Startmeup week than a ‘Startup Weekend’? The three-day event brings together business people, engineers and designers to hack together prospective new startups all in one weekend. After 54 hours of business model creation, coding, designing and market validation – teams present their ideas in front of entrepreneurial leaders and a winner is crowned. In the past, entrepreneurs have met co-founders and successful startups have emerged (such as Aftership!). Buy your tickets here!
Follow StartmeupHK on Twitter for updates leading up to the events.
