Entrepreneurs and tech talents redefine local industries

Renowned futurist addresses post-COVID-19 issues at E-Day event

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 29 June 2020 –
The HKTDC Entrepreneur Day
(E-Day), organised by the Hong Kong
Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will be held at the Hong Kong Convention
and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) on 16 and 17 July 2020. Under the theme “Revive‧Redefine”, the
two-day event will bring together more than 30 speakers and 180 exhibitors, highlighting
the practical and inspirational aspects of start-ups that can help to ensure
the survival, growth, transformation and sustainability of the current business
ecosystem in the face of significant changes and challenges.

As the
anchor start-up initiative run by the HKTDC, E-Day serves as a one-stop
platform for start-ups to get inspired, seek funding, source talents and build
connections, and for investors to discover innovative new products and
services. In light of the current pandemic, E-Day has undergone a
transformation in terms of both content and format. Seminars held as part of
E-Day will be broadcast live to reach a broader audience across the
world, while the HKTDC will
also arrange online meetings between start-ups and investors.

Insights
into the future of entrepreneurship

Entering
its 12^th edition, this year’s E-Day presents a strong line-up of
speakers. For the first time, a futurist will address the audience on emerging
issues in the post-COVID-19 era in a seminar titled “T-Chat — Futurizing Your
Business: Renaissance from the Age of Digitalisation”. The talk will feature Gerd
Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency, who will shed light on future trends
in such areas as business, society and governance in the context of exponential
technological progress.

Gerd Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency

In a technology-dominated era, automation and artificial
intelligence (AI) are becoming the main drivers for many businesses. The
COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated digitalisation by putting “remote everything”
as the default setting. Addressing
the audience from Switzerland, Mr Leonhard will share how the future of
jobs, work and commerce is being redefined amid the challenges and
transformation brought about by the pandemic; examine the role of innovation, creativity and
entrepreneurship in creating major breakthroughs in a technology-dominated
future; and look at what start-ups and entrepreneurs can do to be
future-ready. He will be
joined by Karena Belin, CEO & Co-Founder of WHub, Dr Toa
Charm, Associate Professor, Business School, the Chinese University of Hong
Kong, and Herbert Chia, Venture Partner at Sequoia Capital China, to
discuss how COVID-19 will shape decision-making for start-ups, incubators and
venture capitalists in Hong Kong and Asia. They will also answer questions from
the floor.

Mr Leonhard
is one of the world’s leading futurists whose work focuses on the
future of humanity and technology, digital ethics, AI, future-leadership and
communications. He has taken part in some 2,000 engagements in more than 60
countries since 2004, boasting a global audience of more than 2.5 million people.

How
challenges lead to opportunities

A seminar
titled From Crisis to Chances will examine how entrepreneurs are able to
turn challenging situations into opportunities, offering inspiration to the
audience. Highlighting Hong Kong’s research excellence and the city’s
experience in containing the COVID-19 outbreak, Professor Yeung
King-lun from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will share
how his team reacted to the challenges presented by the global pandemic to
develop a smart anti-microbial coating, the Multilevel Antimicrobial Polymer (MAP-1) coating, to control infectious diseases. Designed for use on different surfaces
including wood, glass, metals, concrete, plastics, fabrics, leathers and
textiles, the coasting provides lasting protection and surface disinfection
against microbial contamination for a period of up to 90 days. The university,
in collaboration with industrial partner Chiaphua Industries Limited, has
applied the smart coating in more than 70 day-care centres, homes for the
elderly, kindergartens and primary and secondary schools. In addition, Professor HC Man, Dean of the
Faculty of Engineering at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will share on how
his team launched the General Use Face Shield, to provide
enhanced protection for the public and minimise the risk of virus transmission within
the community.

Business
opportunities are also arising for start-ups in fields such as fintech,
smart city and education technology. Katherine Cheung, Chief Marketing
Officer of on-demand online tutoring platform Snapask, will share on how recent
social distancing measures have unleashed opportunities for the Hong Kong-based
start-up in both local and overseas markets.

Founded five years ago, Snapask is now serving over 3.2
million students with more than 350,000 tutors across eight Asian locations —
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Korea.
The start-up has registered an increase of 1.3 million users over the past 12
months, including a big surge due to the suspension of classes amid the COVID-19
pandemic. In Hong Kong, the platform currently has some 40,000 tutors and 200,000 active users, most of whom are
high school students with a high percentage of them preparing for the Hong Kong
Diploma of Secondary Education examination. Some parents also seek advice while
helping their primary school kids with their homework. Understanding the demand from students studying late at night, Snapask has
pushed the boundaries of traditional tutoring to offer a 24-hour service. Apart
from its app, Snapask is also developing business-to-business (B2B) solutions using
AI technology to provide personalised learning resources through big data
analysis.

Pioneering
ideas help to redefine industries

The E-Day plenary
session, Revive‧Redefine,
will feature two start-ups that
are helping to redefine their respective industries through pioneering ideas. William
Ip, Managing Director of Carousell Hong Kong, will share how the
company has promoted the concept of a “sharing” future through its customer-to-customer
(C2C) marketplace, which has recently been evolving into a business-to-consumer
(B2C) Platform. Crystal Pang, Co-Founder of Pickupp, will
introduce how the start-up is redefining the delivery industry and expanding
its business in the Asian market. Pickupp also works with genetic
testing and digital health company Prenetics to provide a door-to-door saliva specimen collection service for patients
who need to undergo COVID-19 testing.

The newly launched Enterprise Connect series, featuring
Arup, Fung Group and P&G, will showcase how
enterprises can join hands with start-ups to create shared value and revive
businesses across different industry pillars. The series offers unparalleled
opportunities — including speaker sessions, networking sessions and business
matching activities — for corporations and start-ups to connect and explore
potential collaboration.

Exhibition
details

Seminar
details

Day 1

Photo
download: https://bit.ly/2Afx9UI

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong’s businesses. With more than 50 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With over 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: http://www.hktdc.com/aboutus.