Startups off with a bang

Strong incentives

Cheung said he was attracted by the SAR's geographical proximity to cities on the mainland, as well as its efficient supply chain, low-cost manufacturing, and the city being a "visible market with great potential".

Inovo Robotics, headquartered in the United Kingdom, opened an office in Hong Kong as its Asian base, offering automotive tools that can perform repetitive tasks for various kinds of businesses.

Ricky Chiu Yin-to, founder and CEO of Hong Kong-based Phase Scientific International, agreed that Hong Kong has a "strong foundation in academia", with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area offering all the elements a startup needs to thrive.

Eyeing the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, Chiu said Hong Kong still isn't the end point of his medical diagnostic products company.

The HKSAR government has injected more than HK$150 billion into the inno-tech sector since 2017 through diversified initiatives. The city's 2022-23 Budget said the government would allocate HK$10 billion for the Future Fund to support businesses with growth potential and HK$16 million for local universities' research and development.

Wang Jun, CEO of Hong Kong-bred unicorn GeneHarbor, recalled that when the company was founded in 2004, he already had the technology resources to develop their products from the Innovation and Technology Fund provided by the Innovation and Technology Commission.

"Our company had also benefited from the Research Talent Hub during the early stages of its growth, as well as the Elite Programme," he said. The Research Talent Hub grants direct funding of up to HK$32,000 to each eligible professional working in a startup, while the Elite Programme, sponsored by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, offers fast-growing enterprises with funding of up to HK$21.5 million to spawn their businesses in the international market.

The direct funding programs in marketing and highly-skilled professionals have enabled the anti-aging products producer to use much of the capital on research and development, according to Wang.