HKSTP Global Matching 2020 to Unlock Tremendous Business and Investment Opportunities to Hong Kong and Overseas Tech Ventures

The integrated one-on-one matchmaking event is calling for global tech ventures to pitch for business with world-class corporates and regional investors

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) announced today that the Global Matching 2020, an inaugural business-and-investment matchmaking event, will be held from 16-23 July 2020. The event will offer a diversified entrepreneurial support platform for technology ventures to match potential partners and investors, seek funding, promote business and build connection. The submissions for proposals are open to technology ventures from Hong Kong and all around the world.

In a strategic partnership with InvestHK, the Global Matching 2020 connects world-class corporates and regional investors with innovative entrepreneurs to seek out opportunities for investment, businesses, and seamless adoption of commercially-validated solutions. Technology ventures can submit their proposals online with their solutions addressing problems that persist within the eight designated industry verticals (please see Appendix for details) - Consumer and Retail, Education, Logistics and Manufacturing, Travel and Hospitality, Finance and Insurance, Healthcare, Real Estate and Construction, and Smart City and Government.

Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP, said, “Innovation and Technology is a powerful economic growth engine of now and tomorrow. As the city’s flagship for incubation and R&D, HKSTP is set to drive Hong Kong to become an international innovation and technology hub by providing comprehensive support in the blossoming community.

The Global Matching event is designed to be direct and efficient, enabling our partners to seek disruptive solutions to revitalise their operational efficiency; our investors to discover new avenues of opportunities in innovations; and technology ventures to brave through the coronavirus epidemic by allowing many of the viable, market-ready solutions to go to market to keep their business healthily strong.”

The matchmaking event will go “Live Everywhere” on a hybrid platform for both online and offline on-site activities at Hong Kong Science Park, including online business and investment matching sessions that engage entrepreneurs and their potential business partners or investors in one-on-one pairings. Additionally, shortlisted technology ventures will record a two-minute pitch on their innovative solutions addressing industry operational challenges, and the pitch will be aired on an online platform to increase their exposure to potential funding and business opportunities. Industry leaders and investors will also be invited to share corporate innovation and pre-matching tips.

The Global Matching 2020 is now open up to global entrepreneurs, industry partners and investors: The Global Acceleration Academy, an intensive business acceleration programme spearheaded by HKSTP, is calling for technology ventures across the globe to register before the deadline on 31 May 2020. While the HKSTP Investment Platform, an entrepreneurship supporting arm that connects investors to start-ups and technology ventures, will be inviting industry corporates and regional investors in June for pre-matching and scheduling.

Key Date for Global Matching 2020:

Date	Event
31 May 2020	Open call for global technology ventures
8-30 June 2020	Invitation to industry corporates and regional investors for pre-matching and scheduling
16-23 July 2020	Global Matching 2020 event

About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Comprising Science Park, InnoCentre and Industrial Estates, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is a statutory body dedicated to building a vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem to connect stakeholders, nurture technology talents, facilitate collaboration, and catalyse innovations to deliver social and economic benefits to Hong Kong and the region.

Established in May 2001, HKSTP has been driving the development of Hong Kong into a regional hub for innovation and growth in several focused clusters including Electronics, Information & Communications Technology, Green Technology, Biomedical Technology, Materials and Precision Engineering. We enable science and technology companies to nurture ideas, innovate and grow, supported by our R&D facilities, infrastructure, and market-led laboratories and technical centres with professional support services. We also offer value added services and comprehensive incubation programmes for technology start-ups to accelerate their growth.

Technology businesses benefit from our specialised services and infrastructure at Science Park for applied research and product development; enterprises can find creative design support at InnoCentre; while skill-intensive businesses are served by our three industrial estates at Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org.

Appendix

The innovation challenges as posed by the eight industry verticals include:

Industry Vertical	Innovation Challenges
Consumer & Retail	Enhancing operational efficiency for point-of-sales and inventory management Automation of repeated and labour-intensive tasks Evolving exceptional online-to-offline customer experience Data collection for customer and market analysis Other value-added services
Education	Efficient and user-friendly tools for distance Learning and Flipped Classroom Digitalisation of papers for multiple choice marking and automation of repeated tasks Enhancing student engagement Learning management system for analysing students’ performance and customising teaching method Other education-related technologies
Logistics & Manufacturing	Enhancing operational efficiency for maintenance, roster and parking management of public transport and vehicles Automation of repeated tasks and Heavy Load Moving System Evolving exceptional business-to-business services Tracking and data collection for market analysis Accident investigation and precautionary systems for public transport and vehicles
Travel & Hospitality	Online and offline seamless integration for room reservation, check-in, room services and check-out Automated identity verification to provide personalised services for concierge and facilities Evolving overall experience for travellers as hotel guests, airport users and passengers Data collection for customer on-demand services Engagement and management tools for business-to-business services, in-house training and talent management
Finance & Insurance	Enhancing operational efficiency for branch front-desk Automation of policy administration for renewal, issuance and insurance claim Evolving online and offline user experience with convenience and lifestyle features Data tracking and collection from various platforms for market analysis, client assessment and customisation of wealth solutions Brand building and loyalty programme
Healthcare	Enhancing operational efficiency for clinics operation and e-diagnose Automation of administration procedures and hospital logistics Evolving personalised healthcare services with human-friendly robot Collection and protection of data from patients and doctors Regional sales and distribution system for pharmaceutical industry
Real Estate & Construction	Streamlining processes of building design and construction Smart facilities for building inspection, facility management and customer services operations Enhancing experience for residents and shoppers Behaviour analysis of visitors, members’ activities and facility usage Green technology and facilities
Smart City & Government	Enhancing operational efficiency for public administration Automation of repeated and labour-intensive tasks Enhancing the user experience of online platforms and usage of facilities Developing Smart Environment for public convenience Other technologies with market-proven deployment