Startups battle for up to US$5 million in venture funding, US$240,000 in cash prizes, plus unrivalled partnership and funding opportunities

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 17 October 2023 - Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is kicking off its eighth and biggest ever global Elevator Pitch Competition 2024 (EPiC 2024), by inviting leading tech startups around the world to join the four-city global contest and will have the excellent opportunity for up to US$5 million investment from HKSTP Corporate Venture Fund ("CVF"). Hong Kong's leading startup pitch competition also offers a total of US$240,000 in cash prizes, unrivalled business matching and funding opportunities, plus the ideal springboard to huge market opportunities in Mainland China, across Asia and beyond.

HKSTP is partnering again with world-leading accelerator Plug and Play to help take EPiC on this major global expansion. From January to March 2024, four regional EPiC semi-finals will be hosted in Silicon Valley, Stuttgart, Singapore and Hong Kong, culminating with the grand finale in Hong Kong in April 2024. Mid-to-late-stage tech ventures from around the world are invited to compete in the regional contests to join the list of 72 semi-finalists. The selected semi-finalists will come to Hong Kong to make their live 60-second pitch in front of judges while riding up the elevator at the iconic sky100 venue atop Hong Kong's tallest building, International Commerce Centre. All applicants of EPiC 2024 will have an opportunity to seek investment from CVF up to US$5 million. External corporations also have the option to co-invest, which further raises the potential final funding opportunity.

Additionally, 72 semi-finalists will enjoy benefits from the HKSTP value-added services for six months, even after the competition. These include business matching, investment referral, exclusive membership of a city-wide and cross-industry virtual lab (STP Platform), access to co-working space as well as an extensive talent pool by reaching out to Hong Kong's renowned universities, five of them being ranked in the world's top 100 according to the QS World University Rankings 2024.

Organised by HKSTP, EPiC 2024 is one of the global's most anticipated startup event and is now open for applications across three competition tracks – FinTech, PropTech and MobilityTech - from 17 October 2023 through to 31 December 2023. The finale will take place in April 2024 at the sky100 venue, International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong, recreating a genuine elevator pitch experience for all participants.

Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP, said: "The global growth of the EPiC pitching contest is proof of Hong Kong as a leading international I&T hub to top-tier global startups who seek critical support on their growth journey, connections with entrepreneurs, investors and corporate partners, plus access to Hong Kong's biggest innovation and technology ecosystem. Hong Kong is the international hub of the China's Greater Bay Area (GBA) and at the heart of Asia, while the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou science and technology cluster is ranked second in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s latest Global Innovation Index, making the city the ideal springboard to the surging investment and market potential of Mainland China, Asia and beyond."

EPiC is HKSTP's annual flagship startup event, taking place in Hong Kong and gathering global entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, corporate partners and ecosystem leaders to help the brightest innovators to commercialise their ideas to success in Mainland China, across Asia and beyond. The success of EPiC 2023, which attracted a record 600 plus contestants and 55 economies, made it the city's most international pitch contest ever. The day-long event generated 150 businesses startup-corporate partnership opportunities and countless investment leads, with four of the EPiC 2023 finalist ventures currently close to becoming full-fledged companies landing at Science Park.

Who can apply to join EPiC 2024:

1. Tech startups that are less than 10 years old as of 30 April 2023
2. Ideas should focus on one of the THREE technology tracks: FinTech, PropTech and MobilityTech

Applications will close on 31 December 2023 at 23:59 (GMT+8).

Please visit https://epic.hkstp.org/ for more information on EPiC 2024.

List of awards and prizes

Hashtag: #HKSTP

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About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has for over 20 years committed to building up Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub to propel success for local and global pioneers today and tomorrow. HKSTP has established a thriving I&T ecosystem that supported over 10 unicorns and Hong Kong's leading R&D hub with over 13,000 research professionals and over 1,400 technology companies focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.

Established in 2001, we attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation and technology for entrepreneurs on their journey of growth. 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. The goal is sectors like advanced manufacturing, electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined for a new generation of industry.

Through our infrastructure, services, expertise, and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish innovation and technology as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong, while reinforcing Hong Kong's international I&T hub status as a launchpad for growth at the heart of the GBA innovation powerhouse.

More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org.