HKSTP Unveils Top 74 Global Startups Confirmed for EPiC 2024 Grand Finale
(Adnkronos) – •EPiC 2024 Grand Finale on 26 April 2024 features US$45 million investment to be arranged, up to US$5 million in HKSTP venture funding, US$240,000 in cash prizes, plus partnership opportunities •This year's finale features 80% of semi-finalists coming from 16 overseas markets •All semi-finalists will have access to unrivalled benefits and opportunities provided by HKSTP's innovation ecosystem HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 19 March 2024 – Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has revealed the top 74 startups from over 600 contestants for its eighth and biggest ever global Elevator Pitch Competition 2024 (EPiC 2024) Grand Finale, taking place in Hong Kong on 26 April 2024. The semi-finalists were selected from the first-ever four-city series of global semi-finals held in the innovative hubs of Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, Stuttgart and Singapore. This year, 80% of semi-finalists are overseas competitors from 16 economies, making this contest the most international iteration of EPiC to date. EPiC’s global growth stands testament to Hong Kong’s status as a leading international I&T hub that attracts top-tier startups from around the world. EPiC 2024 is a HKSTP’s annual flagship startup event and one of Hong Kong’s mega events, becoming one of the most highly anticipated events for the I&T community. This year’s Grand Finale will take place on 26 April 2024, at the sky100 venue atop Hong Kong’s tallest building, International Commerce Centre. The participating startups will compete across the three competition tracks of FinTech, PropTech and MobilityTech. Startups will have exactly 60 seconds to amaze the judges with their disruptive innovation, in a genuine elevator pitch experience for all participants. All applicants will target US$45 million investment to be arranged[1], have the opportunity to compete for up to US$5 million in investment from HKSTP Corporate Venture Fund (“CVF”), as well as US$240,000 in cash prizes, plus partnership opportunities. By participating in EPiC, startups can leverage Hong Kong’s largest innovation ecosystem at HKSTP as a springboard to huge market opportunities in Mainland China, across Asia and beyond. The full list of semi-finalists below: MobilityTech Company Name (in alphabetical order) Headquarter 1 ABAKA AI Mainland China 2 ACCURE Battery Intelligence United States 3 AUTOCRYPT South Korea 4 Certivity Germany 5 Coordle United States 6 EVA Germany 7 FlyX Technologies Inc. United States 8 ivilion Germany 9 KONVERY DATA TECH CO.LTD Mainland China 10 Libpet Tech Limited Hong Kong 11 Meep Spain 12 MotoNerv Limited Hong Kong 13 Mushroom Material Singapore 14 Novac Italy 15 Ohoskin Italy 16 OpalAI Inc United States 17 PIX Moving Mainland China 18 SCRAMBLUX GMBH Germany 19 Shanghai Qiongche Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd Mainland China 20 Smart Audio Technologies United Kingdom 21 Soter AI United States 22 tozero GmbH Germany 23 Vidi Labs Limited Hong Kong 24 Waveye Inc Germany 25 wheel.me Norway 26 XYZ Robotics Mainland China PropTech Company Name (in alphabetical order) Headquarter 1 Agora World United States 2 Ailytics Limited Hong Kong 3 Albacastor Technology Limited Hong Kong 4 Allye Energy United Kingdom 5 AZURE PRINTED HOMES United States 6 Blue Wall Technology Mainland China 7 Carnot Innovations Limited Hong Kong 8 Civils.ai Singapore 9 Collov Inc United States 10 Green Independence Italy 11 GreenCoat Pty Ltd Australia 12 Hyele Limited Hong Kong 13 inHovate Solutions UAE 14 Kodifly Limited Hong Kong 15 LifeSparrow Solutions Limited Hong Kong 16 Pando Electric United States 17 ProGreen Innovations Kenya 18 Syzl Canada 19 TANGObuilder United States 20 Ultrack Technology Sdn. Bhd. Malaysia 21 WaveScan Technologies Pte Ltd Singapore 22 XKool Technology Mainland China 23 Yueshi Robot Mainland China 24 Zhuling Technology Mainland China FinTech Company Name (in alphabetical order) Headquarter 1 Aurionpro Payment Solutions Ltd Hong Kong 2 Bizbaz Pte. Ltd. Singapore 3 Boopos United States 4 Boost Capital Singapore 5 Connect Earth United Kingdom 6 D-Engraver Limited Hong Kong 7 e-States United States 8 exaBITS United States 9 imBee Hong Kong 10 iVE.ONE Limited Hong Kong 11 Kaiku United Kingdom 12 KORZO INC. United States 13 KYP United Kingdom 14 Meson Singapore 15 MoneyMatch Sdn Bhd Malaysia 16 Physis Investment United States 17 Helios Life Enterprises United States 18 RealKey United States 19 Rey Indonesia 20 Shenzhen Magic Engine Artificial Intelligence (ME) Co., Ltd. Mainland China 21 Smile API Singapore 22 TFS Hong Kong 23 Transparently.AI Singapore 24 UNCLE2 FINTECH LIMITED Hong Kong ________________________________________ [1] Target to arrange USD45 Million investment: Investors (including funds managed by HKSTP CVF, Beyond Ventures, BitRock Capital, Gaw Capital, HKX, InnoAngel, Jafco Asia, Mindworks Capital and Radiant Tech Ventures) will consider investing in applicants (subject to terms and conditions to be agreed between the parties) About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) was established in 2001 with a mission to position Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. HKSTP has created a thriving I&T ecosystem supporting over 10 unicorns with more than 13,000 research professionals and around 1,700 technology companies from 26 countries and regions focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies. We offer comprehensive support to attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation for technology ventures on their I&T journey. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern InnoParks in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three InnoParks are realising a vision of new industrialisation for Hong Kong, where sectors including advanced manufacturing, micro-electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined. Hong Kong Science Park Shenzhen Branch in Futian, Shenzhen, opened in September 2023 to support Hong Kong's future development and its growing demands of the I&T industry and to strengthen cross-border exchange, attract technology companies as well as talent from around the world, helping them go global. It has both dry and wet laboratories, co-working space, conference and exhibition spaces, and more. We will focus on attracting enterprises in seven key areas: Medtech, big data and AI, robotics, new materials, microelectronics, fintech and sustainability. Through our infrastructure, services, expertise, and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish I&T as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong. More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org. —immediapresswebinfo@adnkronos.com (Web Info)