HKUST Unicorn Day Returns to Showcase over 100 Innovation Projects and Sign Five New Partnerships | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)'s annual Unicorn Day returned today (May 31) with an expanded scope and scale. Featuring an impressive exhibition of over 100 HKUST’s cutting-edge technologies spanning Electronics, AI and Smart Systems; Material, Energy and Sustainability, and Bio-Medical and Healthcare and a series of activities, the event attracted over 1,000 distinguished guests to campus, including 6 legislators, representatives from 9 consulates general, as well as many business leaders, government officials, potential investors, and other key stakeholders. 

In line with Hong Kong's strategic focus to become an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub, the day-long event featured a symposium, an investment dialogue, investment pitching sessions and networking opportunities for HKUST-grown entrepreneurs with potential investors and different stakeholders, promoting exchange of ideas and collaborations on entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer. 

The University signed new partnerships with two prominent incubators during the event. The one with Caohejing Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, a state-level economic and technological development zone that houses over 14,000 national and international companies, will see the co-establishment of an AI education hub and a co-incubator in the zone under the upcoming HKUST Shanghai Center, providing comprehensive support in nurturing talent and potential start-ups.

The other partnership with Beta Lab, a venture capitalist in the Saudi Arabia with a focus on the deep tech sphere, will give HKUST start-ups access to critical resources and networks in the overseas market, further unlocking their global growth potential.  It marks an extension of the University's high-level delegation to the Middle East in April.

Meanwhile, three renowned local enterprises - Lee Kum Kee Group, Nan Fung Life Sciences Holdings Limited, and Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited. – have also signed memorandums of understanding with HKUST to explore opportunities in supporting the University’s Redbird Innovation Fund (RIF), a new fund established in April to foster the scaling of HKUST-grown deep tech companies. Leveraging their strong support, the RIF will strengthen the University’s status as a nurturing ground for the most innovative, advanced and creative enterprises worldwide. 

The Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Ms Lillian CHEONG, said, “Hong Kong does have the seeds for a robust I&T ecosystem - bright talents, entrepreneurs and very successful start-ups. Through fostering collaboration between the upstream research and development, midstream technology transfer and downstream commercialization, we will spare no efforts in fostering the close partnership among the Government, industries, academia, research and investment sectors.” She added that it is truly inspiring to see that the HKUST is a pacesetter in I&T field, as demonstrated by the well-received Unicorn Day event which attracts overwhelming response.

Commissioner for Innovation and Technology Mr. Ivan LEE addressed in his opening remarks that the Government accords top priority to promote the I&T development and establish Hong Kong as an international I&T Centre. To promote global research collaboration, InnoHK, a government’s flagship I&T initiative, has brought together researchers from over 30 top-notch institutions from 12 economies to conduct collaborative and impactful research in Hong Kong.  To promote the midstream sector and the commercialization of R&D outcomes, the government launched the $10 billion Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme (RAISe+ Scheme) last year to incentivize collaboration among industry, academic and research sectors. He added that they truly appreciate HKUST’s remarkable performance of having a substantial number of start-ups, including unicorns.

HKUST President Prof. Nancy IP said, “HKUST is committed to expanding our innovation and entrepreneurship endeavours to strengthen our innovation ecosystem and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs and trailblazers. Over the years, the University has developed essential infrastructure and programs to support our ongoing efforts in these areas. One notable addition is the recently launched HKUST Founder's Club, which serves to create a vibrant community to engage our alumni entrepreneurial leaders. We are also actively pursuing the establishment of an InnoBay in Hong Kong and an on-campus DeepTech incubator, while scaling up our investment support to startups and research projects with potential for knowledge transfer and application. The Unicorn Day is another platform for us to connect and explore partnerships with our stakeholders.  I hope through collaborations, we will bring forth more new technologies and applications to benefit society.” 

HKUST(Guangzhou) (HKUST(GZ)) President Prof. Lionel NI said HKUST(GZ) carries the same DNA of entrepreneurship and innovation as HKUST, adding that HKUST(GZ) has already generated close to 30 new start-up companies with another 70 start-up projects in incubation since its formal establishment two years ago.  Meanwhile, Prof. Tim CHENG, HKUST Vice-President for Research & Development, presented the university’s entrepreneurial infrastructure and collective entrepreneurial spirit, which have helped nurtured 10 unicorns to this day. He called for more partnerships to join the University’s efforts in driving a robust ecosystem in entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer for the city.

Serving as keynote speakers to the symposium, Mr. Felix ZHANG, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pudu Robotics and Ms. Jess CHENG, co-founder and CEO of ChargeSpot HK, both have studied at HKUST, shared their successful entrepreneurship stories. Pudu, a unicorn specializing in the design, R&D, production and sales of commercial service robots, is a global leader with over 80,000 units shipped in over 60 countries and regions; while ChargeSpot, the world’s first transnational power bank sharing service provider, has become a market leader in Hong Kong and has been expanding to Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, culminating in its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2022.

During the event, two panel discussions were staged to discuss on how to help Hong Kong start-ups expand in the global market, featuring perspectives from founders and investors in renowned companies including Arctic Vision, WeLab Bank, Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, ZB Capital, Gobi Partners, Verge Health Tech Fund, Sinovation Ventures, and HSBC Asset Management. 

The event also recognized five award-winning projects under the government’s RAISe+ and 34 HKUST projects funded in the latest round of Technology Start-up Support Scheme for Universities (TSSSU) as launched by the Innovation and Technology Commission. These funds will provide the research teams with new support in transforming their R&D outcomes and deepening collaboration with government, industry, university and research partners. 

As a research-focused university, HKUST has accumulated over 30 years of strength in deep technologies – spanning health technology, AI, robotics, big data, fintech and renewable energy. The University has continuously demonstrated strong leadership in innovation and entrepreneurship development, ranking No. 1 in China under the patent influence metric of the Nature Index in 2022, and No. 2 in China for deep tech unicorns incubation capability by New Fortune in 2022.  Nearly one third of HKUST’s patents were utilized by third parties as of early 2024, a very high proportion in line with that of top global research institutions.  

Appendix: List of HKUST projects receive funding support from RAISe+ Scheme

About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (https://hkust.edu.hk/) is a world-class research intensive university that focuses on science, engineering and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. Over 80% of our research work were rated “Internationally excellent” or “world leading” in the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee. We were ranked 2nd in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2023, and our graduates were ranked 29th worldwide and among the best from universities from Asia in Global Employability University Ranking 2023. As of September 2023, HKUST members have founded 1,747 active start-ups, including 10 Unicorns and 13 exits (IPO or M&A), generating economic impact worth over HK$ 400 billion. In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024, 12 subjects have been ranked in the top 50 globally, with "Data Science and Artificial Intelligence" securing the 10th position, the highest ranking among the local universities in the field.