Hong Kong Startup News Roundup - 15 September 2019

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AngelHub and WHub raised Series A of over US$3,000,000

AngelHub and WHub have closed on a USD $3 million led by Kharis Capital and Hong Kong Fintech Unicorn TNG Fintech Group. AngelHub and WHub were co-founded by Karena Belin and Karen Contet Farzam. Daniel Grossmann, co-founder of Kharis Capital will be joining the board of directors of AngelHub.

Looking ahead, WHub will continue to foster the growth of startups and start to expandgeographically in order to build bridges between startup ecosystems around the world andaccompany startups to scale internationally. AngelHub will complement this mission byoffering to democratise startup investing.

The new investment will be deployed across both AngelHub and WHub to further developthe business through geographical expansion, technology upgrades and talent acquisitionas both companies build their offering and attract more customers and new investments tothe platform.

The Press Release is available in Chinese here: https://www.whub.io/s/PressReleaseCN 

The Press Release in English: https://www.whub.io/s/PressReleaseEN 

Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange Collaborates with Ping An on Fintech and Analytics

Ping An Insurance and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) have entered into an agreement to develop cooperation and collaboration in fintech and data analytics. The purpose of the MOU is to enhance the financial market ecosystem of the region.

Ping An Group Chairman and CEO, Peter Ma, joined HKEX Chief Executive, Charles Li, at a signing ceremony in Shenzhen at the Ping An Finance Center, Futian.

The signing of the MOU marks the beginning of a collaborative journey between Ping An Group and HKEX which seek to explore opportunities to collaborate in initiatives covering the Great Bay Area that aim to serve the global financial institutions, to promote mutual access and strong coordination between the Chinese and international markets and the building of Hong Kong capital market ecosystems.

Within the Ping An group, the initiative will be led by its fintech arm, OneConnect.

Hong Kong Unicorn, BitMEX Crypto Exchange COO Steps Down

The chief operating officer (COO) at Hong Kong unicorn and digital currency exchange BitMEX, Angelina Kwan, has reportedly stepped down. A spokesperson familiar with the matter said "We can confirm that Angelina Kwan is leaving the company”. Angelina joined BitMEX last October, prior to which she covered enforcement and market supervision as part of her role as director of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission.

She also served as managing director and head of regulatory compliance for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing for almost three years prior to accepting the BitMEX post. At the time, Kwan said that she believes an absence of robust regulation creates a lack of confidence among investors who might otherwise trade on cryptocurrency exchanges.

At publishing time, BitMEX is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by reported 24-hour trade volume, which is currently more than $3.4 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

HK-based biotech startup gets venture capital injection

Qiming Venture Partners has led Series B fundraising for Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine, which hopes to speed up the process of drug development with artificial intelligence.

Insilico Medicine said on Tuesday that it had raised $37 million from a group of investors. Qiming was joined in the round by Lily Asia Ventures, Sinovation Ventures, Baidu Ventures and others.

The Hong Kong government is keen to promote biotechnology and Insilico is capitalising on this enthusiasm. Ever since the Hong Kong Stock Exchange rolled out new regulations to allow unprofitable biotech companies to go public, Hong Kong has become an attractive market for biotech investment.

Hong Kong & China Startup Launches Organic Sanitary Product Subscription, Menstrual Cup

Hong Kong & Shanghai-based menstrual care brand LUÜNA announced the launch of their organic cotton sanitary products subscription services and menstrual cup this month. The female-led company aims to empower women in Hong Kong with accessible, natural, toxin-free and sustainable period products suited to each individual’s personal needs. This is a step up for Asia, where eco-friendly and natural menstrual products remain hard to come by, especially homegrown ones.

LUÜNA’s online shop will empower Hong Kong women by delivering female menstrual subscription plans, which can be personalised to cater to each woman’s needs. Customers can choose from a combination of cotton pads, tampons and liners, which are all FDA-approved and certified organic by the Global Organic Textile Standard. Unlike conventional female hygiene brands, none of their products contain any harmful dyes, fragrances or chlorine bleach, and the material used is produced without pesticides.