Are you a hardware startup looking for a home? Three of Hong Kong’s most active founders in the space have joined forces to create StartWare – a community for hardware startups.
Julian Lee of Ambi Climate, Jon Buford of Makible and Martin Kessler of Phonejoy all have one thing in common: they’ve all built successful hardware startups and want to help others in this exciting but often turbulent process.
According to Jon, the meet-ups will follow an open sharing format where hardware veterans and neophytes alike can throw ideas and solutions into the ring. “Everyone has similar problems as they go through the cycle of developing a product or starting a company,” said Jon – “so it’ll be informally sharing what you are doing and perhaps discussing any issues you have to see if other people have suggestions on how to solve it.”
According to Jon, this new meet-up is similar to how the first StartupsHK and Startup Monday communities got started, so new members will have an opportunity to shape future StartWare meetings.
As he has experienced both the thrills and frustrations of bringing a product to life, Martin says that the group was created to help new founders avoid the common pitfalls in starting a hardware-related company. “As of late, there have been plenty of resources for startups in Hong Kong, but hardware faces many different challenges such as building viable prototypes, finding the right factory and setting up distribution channels – just to name a few,” said Martin. “Hong Kong is a great place to start a hardware company due to its proximity to Shenzhen, but it’s still very tough without a proper network.”
StartWare’s first meet-up is on March 5th, so be sure to block it off on your calendar. Sign up here!
