Entrepreneur Day helps start-ups redefine industries

Futurist addresses post-COVID-19 issues at E-Day online platform

HONG
KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach –
15 July 2020 – In light of the COVID-19 situation, this year’s HKTDC
Entrepreneur Day (E-Day) has undergone a transformation in terms of format
and content, with a series of seminars being broadcast live on 16 and 17 July. The
public can register for free at https://hktdc.hermeslive.com/en/.

HKTDC Assistant Executive Director Stephen Liang
said: “Start-ups have been bearing the brunt of the unprecedented challenges,
such as the impact on capital flow, brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. However,
the new normal has given rise to business opportunities through the use of pioneering
innovative technologies.”

Mr Liang added that this year’s E-Day, under the
theme “Revive‧Redefine“, highlights
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, while promoting
the agility necessary to embrace future challenges. The seminars feature more than 30 heavyweight speakers
from such fields as smart logistics, education technology and biotechnology to
share how to deploy pioneering ideas and innovative technologies to disrupt existing
industries and tap into new markets.

Insights
into the future of entrepreneurship

E-Day will
be joined by Gerd Leonhard, a futurist who will address the audience
from Switzerland tomorrow (16 July) to shed light on emerging issues in the post-COVID-19
economy and future trends in such areas as business, society and governance in
the context of exponential technological progress. 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.

Gerd Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency

Another
seminar tomorrow, 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 coating provides lasting
protection and surface disinfection against microbial contamination for a
period of up to 90 days. The smart coating has already been applied 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.

Disrupting
industries with pioneering ideas

At the
event’s plenary session tomorrow morning, titled Revive‧Redefine,
William Ip, Managing Director of Carousell Hong Kong, and Crystal Pang,
Co-Founder of Pickupp, will share how their start-ups are working to redefine
their respective industries through pioneering ideas. Mr Ip will share how the company has promoted
the concept of a “sharing” future through its customer-to-customer (C2C)
marketplace. Ms Pang 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.

In addition, the newly
launched Enterprise Connect series, featuring Arup, Epson and Fung
Group, will showcase how enterprises can join hands with start-ups to
create shared value and revive businesses across different industry pillars.

Representatives
from the media are welcome to join the closed-door seminars, which will be held
at S226-228 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Details are as
follows:

16
July (Day 1)

Please click here for details of all seminars over
both days of E-Day.

Photo
download: https://bit.ly/328BLYh

About HKTDC

The Hong
Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in
1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With 50 offices
globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a
two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international
exhibitions, conferences
and business
missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets.
The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via trade
publications, research
reports and digital
news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.
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