HKSTP Crowns Overall Champion Skyland Innovation at EPiC 2023 Pitching Competition Beating Over 610 Global Startups
28.4.2023 18:11:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) today successfully held its 7th Elevator Pitch Competition (EPiC), naming Hong Kong startup, Skyland Innovation, as the overall 2023 champion, beating over 610 startups from 55 economies around the world. The signature event has partnered with the city’s leading corporations: Cathay, HSBC, MTR Lab, plus global accelerator Plug & Play, to become a true iconic mega event that has hit a global scale.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230428005353/en/
Mr Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP (Centre), alongside EPiC 2023 Top 10 overall finalists. (Photo: Business Wire)
As Hong Kong’s flagship and largest pitching contest, 50 Grand Finale semi-finalists joined the city’s most eagerly anticipated pitch event this year at sky100 at the top of the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon to re-create a real-life 60-second elevator pitch experience.
The EPiC 2023 judging panel of the region’s top entrepreneurs, investors and innovation ecosystem leaders selected Skyland Innovation from Hong Kong, as this year’s overall champion. The winner of the grand prize of US$ 90,000, helps property owners and contractors to coordinate and communicate seamlessly on construction sites through the use of robotics and AI. The local proptech is also a spinoff from the Hong Kong Center for Construction Robotics (HKCRC) within the HKSAR Government backed AIR@InnoHK research cluster located at Hong Kong Science Park.
Along with all 50 semi-finalists, Skyland Innovation also qualifies to be considered by the HKSTP Venture Fund for additional investment deals. If selected, each company can potentially receive up to a maximum investment of US$5 million.
EPiC 2023 competitors were split across the two themes of FinTech and PropTech with FinCrime Dynamics from the UK named as the overall FinTech category winner, and Skyland Innovation Company Ltd named the overall PropTech winner from Hong Kong. This year, Canvasland, a FinTech startup from Hong Kong was also voted by the public as the “My Favourite Pitcher" winner, taking away US$10,000 and 200,000 Asia Miles. The top 10 overall finalists also won US$10,000 each (Full winners and finalists list below).
Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR, said: “Hong Kong has a strong, thriving startup ecosystem with 4000 startups, up more than 50% from 2018. Hong Kong is also a natural gateway to the GBA, which offers tremendous growth opportunities. Successful products and services will surely have an edge in the GBA, the whole of the nation and around the world. I am truly excited to be here at EPiC 2023 where startups strive to make their 60-second pitch truly count. I congratulate all the EPiC 2023 winners and invite startups from all over the world to join us in Hong Kong where the future is built.”
Sunny Chai, Chairman, HKSTP, said: “EPiC 2023 showcases the most exciting innovations from the world’s star-studded next-generation global tech ventures. Together with the Hong Kong Government's solid commitment, as reinforced by the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint, our city provides the ideal platform to expand into the vast Asian market. Hong Kong is also Asia’s world city and a bridge between the mainland and the world, making us a magnet for global innovation talent and enterprises.”
Albert Wong, CEO, HKSTP, said: “This year’s EPiC competition features a record international turnout and shows Hong Kong is truly back with a strong show of unicorns and soonicorns from around the world among this year’s finalists. But EPiC is more than just a competition, it is a prime example of Hong Kong’s unique ability to help startups grow fast and go beyond by providing a network of global investment opportunities and innovation talent to turn cutting-edge science, technologies, and ideas into game-changing solutions."
A magnet for global investors and innovation talent
EPiC 2023 surpassed all expectations, attracting over 610 entries from 55 countries and cities across five continents. Over 75% of contestants come from overseas, a record high proportion of overseas contestants and economies participation since 2016. Startups joining EPiC 2023 can fully leverage the largest I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong and HKSTP’s direct connections to over 1,000 investors and more than 300 corporate partners.
In addition to the EPiC final pitching contest, the 50 semi-finalists have also taken part in the "Grow Beyond Hong Kong" Immersion Programme. This exclusive 2-day programme ran from 25-26 April, immersed the EPiC 2023 semi-finalists directly into HKSTP’s innovation ecosystem. Participants will unlock growth opportunities through educational talks, business matching and networking with leading corporate partners and investors in our ecosystem.
Winners List:
|
Overall Champion |
Skyland Innovation Company Ltd. |
||
|
“My Favourite Pitcher” Winner |
Canvasland Limited |
||
|
FinTech Winner |
FinCrime Dynamics |
||
|
PropTech Winner |
Skyland Innovation Company Ltd. |
||
|
Top 10 Overall Finalists |
FinTech Finalists:
FinCrime Dynamics Homebase Ultipa VoiceAI Technologies
PropTech Finalists:
I2Cool Limited
Mimicrete VoltSafe, Inc. Skyland Innovation Company Ltd. |
Contestants Breakdown:
|
Category |
|
|
No. of applicants |
|
PropTech |
|
|
266 (43%) |
|
FinTech |
|
|
352 (57%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No. of applicants |
|
Overseas |
|
|
465 (75%) |
|
Hong Kong |
|
|
153 (25%) |
A record high proportion of overseas contestants and economies participation since 2016.
For more information on EPiC 2023, please visit: https://epic.hkstp.org/
About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has for over 20 years committed to building up Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub to propel success for local and global pioneers today and tomorrow. HKSTP has established a thriving I&T ecosystem that is home to two unicorns and Hong Kong’s leading R&D hub with over 13,000 research professionals and over 1,300 technology companies focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.
Established in 2001, we attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation and technology for entrepreneurs on their journey of growth in Hong Kong, to the Greater Bay Area, Asia and beyond. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern INNOPARKs in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three INNOPARKs are realising a vision of new industrialisation for Hong Kong. The goal is sectors like advanced manufacturing, electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined for a new generation of industry.
Through our infrastructure, services, expertise and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish innovation and technology as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong, while reinforcing Hong Kong’s international I&T hub status as a launchpad for global growth at the heart of the GBA innovation powerhouse.
More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230428005353/en/
Contact information
Media Contact:
Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
Betsy Leung
Tel: +852 2629 2300
Email: betsy.leung@hkstp.org
Edelman Public Relations
Lisa Tse
Tel: +852 3756 8632 / 6347 2009
Email: Lisa.Tse@edelman.com / Edelmanhkstppr@edelman.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Incyte Highlights New Data Advancing its Gastrointestinal Cancer Portfolio at ESMO 202626.10.2026 15:45:00 EET | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) announced new results from its advancing oncology portfolio, including updated results for its KRAS G12D inhibitor (INCB161734) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), and its TGFβR2×PD-1 bispecific antibody (INCA338901) in microsatellite stable CRC (MSS CRC). The data were featured in three rapid oral sessions (Abstract #3137RO, Abstract #1007RO and Abstract #1954RO, respectively) at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026. “At Incyte we are focused on improving outcomes for people living with cancer. The data presented for INCB161734 and INCA33890 show the potential of both programs to improve the standard-of-care in hard-to-treat diseases,” said Pablo J. Cagnoni, M.D., President, Incyte and Global Head of Research and Development. “Across pancreatic and colorectal cancers, we continue to see encouraging evidence of clinical activity and manageable safety profiles, supporting the promise
Bending Spoons Completes the Acquisition of Miro26.10.2026 15:00:00 EET | Press release
Bending Spoons S.p.A. (NASDAQ: BSP) has completed the previously announced acquisition of Miro, the visual collaboration platform used by more than 250,000 organizations to brainstorm, plan, and build together. “Miro has built a strong business around a product that makes complex collaborative work feel simple,” said Luca Ferrari, Bending Spoons CEO and co-founder. “Miro’s versatility has made it useful across a broad range of industries and workflows, while creating a robust foundation for further expansion. We believe there’s significant potential to build on these strengths. We look forward to drawing on Bending Spoons’ technologies and expertise to make Miro even more useful to customers and support its continued growth.” “Teams depend on Miro for innovating, alignment, coordination, and decisioning, and that need is only growing,“ said Andrey Khusid, CEO and co-founder of Miro. “In Bending Spoons, Miro has an owner who invests for the long term and cares deeply about product quali
Dubai Culture Opens Registration for ISEA2026 Dubai26.10.2026 14:09:00 EET | Press release
Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has opened registration for the 31st International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art (ISEA2026 Dubai), taking place from 6 to 15 November 2026 under the theme ‘ELYAH: Constellating Place, Data and Identity’. The symposium will be the largest edition to date, bringing together artists, researchers, and innovators from around the world to explore the intersection of art, science, and technology and exchange perspectives on the future of contemporary creative practice. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026652826/en/ Dubai Culture Opens Registration for ISEA2026 Dubai (Graphic: AETOSWire) The event supports Dubai Culture’s efforts to advance the digital arts ecosystem, deliver on its Digital Arts Roadmap objectives, and empower local talent. It also reinforces Dubai’s position as a global cultural reference, a leader in innovation, a driver of the creative econo
Agendia Unveils Clinical Validation of AI-Driven Digital Pathology Approach26.10.2026 14:00:00 EET | Press release
Agendia, Inc., a leader in precision oncology for breast cancer, recently presented research introducing its investigational artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital pathology approach for the MammaPrint®70-gene recurrence signature at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026 in Madrid. The podium presentation, delivered by co-founder and Chief Research Officer, Laura van ’t Veer, Ph.D., detailed the development and clinical validation of a deep learning pipeline that can infer MammaPrint (MP) risk categories directly from hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained, whole-slide images (WSIs). The company also presented two additional posters highlighting data from the prospective, real-world FLEX Study (NCT03053193). “AI has been part of Agendia’s scientific foundation from the beginning and this study represents its continued evolution,” said Dr. Laura van ‘t Veer. "For the first time, we are presenting our work exploring whether the biological information represente
C.H. Robinson Debuts Lean AI for Ocean Shipping, Air Freight and Customs26.10.2026 14:00:00 EET | Press release
As the global leader in Lean AI, C.H. Robinson has launched new AI agents that perform work in ocean shipping, air freight and customs brokerage. They represent an expansion of the company’s Lean AI capabilities into freight forwarding, for the benefit of more customers, and into work so complex that a single shipping task can require over a dozen AI agents working in tandem. Continuing to disrupt itself and the industry, the company’s new tech brings substantial speed-to-market gains, precision and agility to customers’ supply chains without sacrificing human oversight or personal attention. The new tech includes: Price-quoting for ocean and air cargo: AI has determined and delivered over 80,000 price quotes for over 3,600 customers. Quotes that used to take a day for an air shipment and two to three days for an ocean shipment now take two to three minutes. Ocean booking: AI has begun to manage the thousands of booking requests C.H. Robinson receives every week. Customs: AI helps with
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom