Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) today (January 4) revealed some of the key highlights to watch out for during the upcoming 2017 StartmeupHK Festival, which covers retail technology, fashion technology, smart city, fintech and digital health, with more than 80 speakers who will be involved in panel sessions, interactive discussions, competitions and speaking events.

     The StartmeupHK Festival, running from January 16 to January 20, is the second event of its kind organised by InvestHK and this year will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai and at PMQ in Central. It is expected to attract founders, innovators and investors, both locally and from overseas.

     In InvestHK’s recent 2016 Start-up Profiling Survey, carried out in collaboration with 38 co-work space, incubation and acceleration programme operators, the findings showed a 24 per cent year-on-year increase in start-up companies registered with them in Hong Kong, with 1 926 start-ups in total.

     "Out of that total, there were around 600 non-Hong Kong founders, mostly from the United States and western Europe, which reflects on Hong Kong's popularity for overseas start-ups further afield as a place to do business with the global market," said the Acting Director-General at InvestHK, Mr Charles Ng. "We also have more than 65 start-ups from Mainland China."

     The festival will showcase the city's vibrant start-up ecosystem with the help of a range of individual event organisers, a variety of local and international firms, and support from both the private and public sectors.

     The week's signature event, the StartmeupHK Venture Forum, will take place in late afternoon on January 17 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Special guest speakers include best-selling author and founder of the Moven mobile banking service, Mr Brett King; cyber illusionist, Mr Marco Tempest; Internet pioneer and Chairman of VeriFi (Hong Kong), Mr Pindar Wong; co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Consensus Systems, Mr Joseph Lubin; and Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr Dennis Lo.

     The festival starts on January 16 with Retail's Cutting Edge, an event organised by Inside Retail Asia which seeks to explore how disruptors use technology to shape the way people relate to brands, select products and use social media to help determine their purchases. It will offer the latest online and offline retail thinking from a technology perspective.

     That evening, FashionTech Asia, organised by BeFast.TV and including a fashion show, will look at the fashion technology crossover with other media vehicles.

     On January 17, KPMG and the Smart City Consortium will hold The Connected City at PMQ, showcasing innovations for the next generation of city living, with examples of technology from around the world, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and Data Analytics that aim to enhance a city's liveability, workability and sustainability. This will be followed by the StartmeupHK Venture Forum in the evening.

     Following on from the success of the inaugural Hong Kong Fintech Week in November, the FinTech Finals will take place on January 18 and 19 to help build the city's Fintech momentum. Twenty-four outstanding start-ups selected globally, four of which are from Hong Kong, will pitch their business plans to compete for the Best in Show Prize of US$10,000, Best Early Stage, Best Growth Stage and Best Mature Stage Startups.

     The festival will continue through to January 20. Facing increasing challenges of financial sustainability, manpower shortages and greater expectations from consumers, HealthTech Asia 2017, organised by APAC BioHealth, will look at how health technology can find solutions and collect opinions from international experts and local start-up innovators. Also, on January 20 there will be the Hong Kong Tech & Start-ups Job Fair at PMQ, organised by W Hub. The finale will be the Hong Kong Pioneers Ecosystem Meetup at Metta in Central.

     To check out the latest programme schedule, please visit the website (www.startmeup.hk/festival2017).

About InvestHK

     InvestHK is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established in 2000 to attract foreign direct investment and support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in Hong Kong's vibrant economy. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.

Ends/Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:07

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