Hong Kong’s tech startup scene is catching up with mainland China

The ascension of tech startups from mainland China onto the global stage has been well-documented, but what about Hong Kong?

According to Duncan Chiu, chairman of the local Cyberport Investors Network Steering Group, the international finance hub took longer to catch on. Young talent in Hong Kong was “more reserved” than their mainland counterparts, he speculates. Instead of entrepreneurship, they tended to go into banking or other professional paths.

But “seven or eight years ago,” that began to change. Local government played a role, with current and former chief executives making efforts to “reposition” the city as an innovation hub. And in 2005, Hong Kong’s government launched the Cyberport initiative in order to incubate local tech startups. Two years ago, the organization also set up a fund targeted at pre-Series A companies.

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