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
mimik Operationalizes Agentic AI on the AMD Ryzen™ AI Embedded X100 Series23.7.2026 21:30:00 EEST | Press release
mimik today announced mimOE™ Embedded Edition, a package of its Agentix Operating Engine and a set of purpose-built tools for the AMD Ryzen™ AI Embedded X100 Series processor, the newest processor in a family designed for physical AI, autonomous systems, and industrial automation. Available to download today, mimOE Embedded Edition gives OEMs, tier-1 suppliers, system integrators, and agent developers the path to operationalize Agentix-Native systems (aka Agentic AI), in which autonomous agents can reason, coordinate, and act directly on devices, from PoC to scaled operations with certainty. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260723555565/en/ Agentic AI operations are both CPU and GPU bound. Enterprises can now scale with certainty. Generative AI has centered on the GPU. Agentix-Native systems must spread the work. In a real multi-agent workflow traced by mimik, more than 80 percent of operations were CPU work: d
U.S. Federal Court Permanently Bans 19 Online Sellers of Fake Urolithin A Supplements and Awards $5.3 Million in Damages to Timeline23.7.2026 17:27:00 EEST | Press release
Timeline (Amazentis SA), the Swiss life-sciences company that pioneered the postbiotic ingredient Urolithin A and its branded form Mitopure®, together with its U.S. subsidiary Timeline Longevity, Inc., announced today that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has granted the companies’ motion for default judgments and permanent injunctions against 19 online sellers found to have marketed and sold nutritional supplements falsely advertised as containing Urolithin A. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260722951066/en/ Timeline longevity supplement powered by Mitopure; proprietary, highly pure Urolithin A. The order, entered July 15, 2026 by Judge Myong J. Joun in Amazentis SA et al. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule “A”, Case No. 1:25-cv-12913-MJJ (District of Massachusetts), permanently enjoins 19 defaulting defendants from further manufacturing, market
TestMu AI Introduces the Source-to-Verdict Loop in Kane CLI, Carrying Every Requirement to a Ship Decision With Portable Proof23.7.2026 16:45:00 EEST | Press release
TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest), the world's first Agentic AI-powered Quality Engineering platform, introduced a source-to-verdict loop in Kane CLI, its natural-language testing tool. Building on Kane CLI's evolution from a browser automation tool, the loop carries a product requirement to a ship decision, writing the tests, running them in the local browser, collecting the proof, measuring coverage from what actually happened, and returning a verdict. As AI agents write, run, and fix tests, a green checkmark is no longer enough: a step that checks nothing passes, a test written against a spec that changed weeks ago passes, and an agent that says “done” without the click ever landing passes. Empty green and earned green are the same color on every dashboard, the number climbs while the risk does not move. Kane CLI closes that gap: it carries a requirement to a verdict, and proves every step of it. One loop. Source to verdict. You no longer hand Kane CLI a test script, you hand it your
Norway’s health system adopts Wolters Kluwer UpToDate Enterprise Edition23.7.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Wolters Kluwer Health announced that Norway’s health system has renewed its adoption of UpToDate Enterprise Edition, a market-leading Clinical Decision Support (CDS) solution, for its nationwide health system which includes over 50 public hospitals and 11,000 beds in over 20 trusts. This extends a 15 year partnership with Helsebiblioteket, now part of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). Helping clinicians on a national scale Kjell Tjensvoll, Team Leader for Helsebiblioteket said, ‘‘Providing frontline teams with easy access to the latest medical knowledge is vital in reducing unwarranted variation and improving patient care on a national scale. UpToDate Enterprise Edition enables this, and we are delighted to strengthen our relationship with Wolters Kluwer and provide continued support for clinicians across the country.’’ UpToDate Enterprise Edition was selected by Helsebiblioteket, the Norwegian Electronic Health Library. The selection followed a competitive process by th
Boyd Watterson Global Names John Creswell Global Chief Client Officer to Accelerate Global Growth and Client Engagement23.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Boyd Watterson Global today announced the appointment of John Creswell as Global Chief Client Officer, a newly created senior leadership role that reflects the firm's continued investment in growth and its evolution into a leading global alternatives investment platform. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260722823117/en/ John Creswell has joined Boyd Watterson Global as Global Chief Client Officer, a newly created role overseeing global sales, client engagement and marketing across the U.S., Europe and APAC. In this role, Creswell will oversee global sales, client engagement and marketing efforts across the United States, Europe and APAC, helping investors access the firm's capabilities while strengthening relationships with institutional and private capital partners worldwide. While based in Chicago, John will spend considerable time at the firm’s headquarters in Cleveland as well as in key offices globally. Cr
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