Business Wire

HKSTP

5.11.2021 15:20:09 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
HKSTP Hosts Global Entrepreneurs at First-Ever Hybrid Elevator Pitch Competition to Spark a Week of GBA and International Business Opportunities

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) today held its first-ever hybrid Elevator Pitch Competition (EPiC), with over 600 startups from Hong Kong and around the world joining the annual signature event. HKSTP is approaching 20 years of leading innovation in Hong Kong with the return of EPiC 2021 to its iconic home at sky100 at the top of the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon to re-create a genuine 60-second elevator pitch experience.

In its sixth year, the annual EPiC event in hybrid format for the first time, allowed overseas innovators to go beyond geographical boundaries and join the virtual EPiC event and journey live. This year’s event surpassed all expectations, attracting over 600 entries from 40 countries and cities across five continents. A total of over 160 contestants entered the semi-final round, with nearly 60% from overseas.

This year’s overall EPiC Champion, Winner of Green Tech & Construction Tech Category, as well as the “My Favourite Pitcher” award belong to Hong Kong-based archiREEF. The Greentech startup beat all other finalists with its innovative climate solutions and eco-engineering technology for ocean ecosystems restoration. The company combines expertise in marine biology and the latest technologies in 3D printing techniques and material science to create artificial habitats that are best suited for different marine life anywhere in the world.

The other three tech category winners included: FinTech Winner, Hong Kong-based Wizpresso; Health Technology Winner, Hong Kong-based PointFit Technology, and Smart City Winner, Israel-based Intelligent Traffic Control (ITC). All EPiC entries this year were focused on one of four key themes: FinTech, Green Tech & Construction Tech, Health Technology, and Smart City.

Albert Wong, CEO at HKSTP, said: “The return of our flagship pitching and investment event EPiC 2021 at the iconic sky100 is the ideal platform to lead into our 20th year, while the record participation is a showcase of the city’s growing entrepreneurial strength and world-class I&T potential. The EPiC week of activities provides a unique borderless experience that educates and connects innovators around the world with insights to sharpen entrepreneurial skills and deepen knowledge on the thriving Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area market. EPiC is where we unlock opportunities, where innovation begins and where talent flourishes as pioneers and innovators connect in a genuine haven of global innovation and investment.”

EPiC is a week-long platform generating opportunities not only for the winners but for all participants. Global and local entrepreneurs have interacted with active investors and innovation ecosystem leaders at this year’s EPiC competition. Meanwhile, physical and virtual guests from various industries and territories explored a wealth of GBA and international business partnership, as well as investment opportunities. The competition leads on to the Investment & Business Matching from November 8-12 and finally the Investment Conference on November 12, to complete a week of immersion into HKSTP’s world-class I&T ecosystem.

Since its inception in 2016, HKSTP’s EPiC has drawn a huge number of international participants to grasp a one-minute elevator pitch opportunity to some of the most demanding investors and judges in Hong Kong. The top ten finalists were given another opportunity to face the judges in a three-minute live pitch and two-minute Q&A. The overall champion took away a cash prize of US$100,000, while each of the category winners received a cash prize of US$10,000 and all ten finalists won US$6,000 each.

List of Winners:

Award

Company

Market

Overall Champion and Green Tech & Construction Tech Category Winner

archiREEF

Hong Kong

FinTech Category Winner

Wizpresso

Hong Kong

Health Technology Category Winner

PointFit Technology

Hong Kong

Smart City Category Winner

Intelligent Traffic Control (ITC)

Israel

My Favourite Pitcher

archiREEF

Hong Kong

Other Top 10 Finalists:

Aortyx

Spain

 

Clear Robotics

Hong Kong

 

Novai

UK

 

Papkot

France

 

TicTAP – Simply Connect

Spain

 

Vista InnoTech

Hong Kong

About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has for 20 continuous 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 is home to three unicorns and Hong Kong’s leading R&D hub with over 11,000 research professionals and over 1,000 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 in Hong Kong, to the Greater Bay Area, Asia and beyond. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of the 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 realizing a vision of re-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 global growth at the heart of the GBA innovation powerhouse.

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

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Galderma Receives U.S. FDA Approval for Differin® Epiduo® Acne Gel Prescription-to-OTC Switch22.5.2026 18:25:00 CEST | Press release

A unique Prescription-to-OTC switch in acne care, this approval expands access to a dermatologist-trusted, prescription-strength treatment for millions of acne sufferers ages 12 years and older Backed by more than 15 years of real-world dermatologist use and a robust clinical research program, this milestone demonstrates the depth of science behind the Differin® and Epiduo® heritage Adapalene plus benzoyl peroxide (0.1/2.5%) was the first FDA-approved, stable, fixed- dose prescription acne treatment to combine of benzoyl peroxide with a retinoid, and is now available over-the-counter The formulation is engineered to target multiple causes of acne more effectively than either of its individual active ingredients alone Galderma (SIX: GALD), the pure-play dermatology category leader, today announced that the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Differin® Epiduo® Acne Gel (Adapalene 0.1% and Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5% Acne Treatment) for over-the-counter (OTC) us

Avanzanite Bioscience’s Partner Agios Announces PYRUKYND® (mitapivat) Approval in the European Union for Adults with Thalassaemia22.5.2026 16:18:00 CEST | Press release

Avanzanite will commercialise and distribute PYRUKYND in Europe under its exclusive agreement with Agios Avanzanite is committed to collaborating with local authorities in the EU to enable access to PYRUKYND for adult patients with thalassaemia Avanzanite Bioscience B.V., a rapidly growing commercial-stage European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, today reported that its partner, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGIO), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts focused on delivering innovative medicines for patients with rare diseases, announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for PYRUKYND® (mitapivat), an oral pyruvate kinase (PK) activator, in adults for the treatment of anaemia associated with transfusion-dependent and non-transfusion-dependent alpha- or beta-thalassaemia, with an orphan medicinal product designation. This press release features multimedia. View the full releas

ICE Brent and ICE WTI Perpetual Futures to Launch on OKX22.5.2026 14:30:00 CEST | Press release

OKX, a blockchain technology and trading company serving more than 120 million customers globally,and Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), one of the world's leading providers of financial market technology and data powering global capital markets including the New York Stock Exchange, today announced plans for OKX to launch perpetual futures based on ICE's Brent Crude and WTI Crude energy benchmarks. The products are expected to be available to trade on OKX’s platform in jurisdictions where OKX is licensed to offer perpetual futures products. The new OKX contracts represent a major step forward in expanding regulated access to global commodity markets through digital asset infrastructure. This first product collaboration between OKX and ICE comes after the companies established a strategic relationship in March 2026. ICE operates some of the world’s leading exchanges, clearing houses and market data services across energy, commodities, fixed income and equities markets. ICE’s future

Enhertu® Recommended for Approval in the EU by CHMP for Patients with Previously Treated HER2 Positive Metastatic Solid Tumors22.5.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

Enhertu® (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has been recommended for approval in the European Union (EU) as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2 positive (immunohistochemistry [IHC] 3+) solid tumors who have received prior treatment and who have no satisfactory treatment options. Enhertu is a specifically engineered HER2 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) and being jointly developed and commercialized by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN). The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) based its positive opinion on results from patients with HER2 positive (IHC 3+) tumors in three phase 2 trials including DESTINY-PanTumor02,DESTINY-Lung01 andDESTINY-CRC02 where Enhertu demonstrated clinically meaningful responses across a broad range of tumors. The recommendation will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which has the authority

Future Health Challenge Awards USD 300,000 to Early Detection and Population Health Sensing Tools on Sidelines of World Health Assembly22.5.2026 13:45:00 CEST | Press release

Global teams recognised in the Future Health Challenge for solutions designed to detect health risks earlier and support faster health system decisions Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi and MIT Solve announce the winners of the inaugural Future Health ChallengeWinning solution equips frontline health workers in low-resource settings with mobile clinical decision-support tools, enabling earlier detection and more effective care deliveryTeams competed for a USD 200,000 grand prize and two USD 50,000 runner-up awards on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly in GenevaWinners recognised for solutions advancing anticipatory, data-driven health systems Three global teams developing early detection and real-time population health monitoring solutions have secured a total of USD 300,000 on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly. The winning solutions address critical challenges in early detection, continuous population insight and more timely decision making, s

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye