Hong Kong Startup News Round Up - 7 Oct 2018

Google HK releases 2^nd Edition of Smarter Digital City Whitepaper

Google HK released the second edition of the Smarter Digital City Whitepaper on Wednesday. Conducted by Ipsos, it takes an in-depth look at the progress of consumers’ perceptions of a Smart City and their technology adoption in everyday life; as well as the progress of business digital transformation in the past year.

Their statistics show only 30% of residents consider HK a smart city despite high internet penetration. While 85% of corporates have increased digital investment this year, and 93% said they would invest more in the next two years; only half of the SMBs interviewed see digital as a fundamental part of their business.

Leonie Valentine, Managing Director, Sales & Operations, Google HK, comments, “We hope that different stakeholders will be able to use these insights as a catalyst for conversations that help Hong Kong make the leap to become a Smarter Digital City.”

They also announced that Google for Jobs will be launched in HK and Hong Kong has been selected to become a Google Cloud Region, which will be released in Q.4 this year.

 The CareVoice, a Shanghai health insurtech startup, launches in HK & eyes Asian expansion

A startup that was the first to allow people in China to review and rate hospitals, clinics and doctors launched its services in Hong Kong. Shanghai-based The CareVoice, which now provides a range of digital services in the insurance technology sector, sees the move as the first stage of a broader Asian expansion plan.

The company started in 2014 as a mobile platform for reviewing and evaluating health-care services. Now it also provides tailored software for partnered insurance companies to allow their customers to digitally find services, make insurance claims and track their health.

Its HK launch marks the first step in a wider Asian expansion and comes after several months of preparation, according to Sebastien Gaudin, chief executive officer and co-founder of The CareVoice. In the latter half of 2019 they plan to expand into Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

25 women leaders in HK FinTech: The List

With the support of InvestHK, DigFin has created a list, highlighting 25 women leaders in Hong Kong fintech. The list is generated with the help of female fintech experts such as Karen Contet Farzam, Co-Founder & Chief Hustler of WHUb, and Maaike Steinebach of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong.

These leaders have hardcore tech jobs at financial institutions, senior executive roles overseeing digital initiatives, are founders and business managers of fintechs, and run large tech vending businesses.

Some notable startup names mentioned in this list include: Bianca Ho, co-founder of Clare.ai; Maxine Ryan, Founder of Spark; Amy Yu, Head of Institutional Sales, BitMEX

HK student payment app Qnect rebrands to Get

Hong Kong based marketplace for students, Qnect, which allows student clubs to easily communicate and collect payments for event tickets, merch, memberships, announced that the brand is changing to Get.

Since its launch in Hong Kong, it operates across 10 polytechnics and universities in Hong Kong. It has been since releasing more team collaboration, student ID exclusivity and in-person payment collection tools both on its web and mobile app versions.

Get’s new fresh versions of it’s club and society payment collection platform adding on the ability to create digital membership cards, sell merchandise such as T-shirts, notebooks, hoodies and support In-person payments (Cash & Card payments). Not limited to its social function, Get also provides memberbase imports, which allow admins to easily re-engage past attendees to join upcoming events. With its outstanding performance in Hong Kong, Get has expanded to Singapore schools since July 2018. In the coming years, Get will continue allowing millenials to have more social features around payments and provide a brand new user experience a millenial can Get.

Crypto Startups Are Renting the Most Expensive Real Estate in HK

Around 15% of the premium corporate real estate in Hong Kong is now occupied by cryptocurrency startup companies and investment firms. According to South China Morning Post, cryptocurrency-related companies are collectively paying $1.3 million per month in rent. The current cost per square foot in Hong Kong’s prime office buildings stands at around $307.

As a comparison, the report notes, the same monthly, collective rent costs would be enough for approximately 5 floors in NYC’s One World Trade Center. Notable names leasing office space inclue BitMEX, a popular leveraged crypto derivatives trading platform, and Diginex, which runs virtual currency mining operations.