HKSTP’s First-Ever Virtual Elevator Pitch Competition 2020 Opens New Investment and Partnership Opportunities for Global Startups
6.11.2020 15:49:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) held its annual Elevator Pitch Competition 2020 (EPiC) virtually for the first time to unveil new and exciting pitching, investment and partnership opportunities as global startups face a challenging business landscape. US-based biotechnology startup, Mi Terro, topped other finalists to be crowned champion and claimed the top prize at the competition today.
HKSTP’s annual flagship event this year expanded to a week-long virtual programme. It garnered a great response with over 77,000 live views at today’s pitching competition. This year, EPiC attracted 476 entries from 37 countries and cities across five continents. A total of 170 contestants from 31 different markets entered the semi-final round, with nearly 70% of them coming from overseas.
Mi Terro, champion and winner of the Smart City category, is a company that upcycles and re-engineers protein food waste into plastic and cotton alternative fibres for the fashion, medical and packaging industries. The three Tech Category Winners, including UK-based AI & Robotics startup Arctoris, Philippines-based fintech startup PearlPay, and Portugal-based health technology startup RUBYnanomed, showcased their full potential as innovators in the competition.
Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP, said: “This year’s successful staging of the 5th EPiC is a clear sign of our determination to provide a platform of unmatched opportunities to startups around the world to showcase their innovations and demonstrate their entrepreneurial spirit. The week-long programme is also a show of strength and resilience for Hong Kong’s rapidly-growing innovation and technology ecosystem which propels startups and their ideas to success in Hong Kong, Asia and beyond.”
Since inception in 2016, EPiC has drawn a huge number of international startups to make a live one-minute elevator pitch to leading investors and judges at the International Commerce Centre (ICC), the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. This year, our contestants switched modes to present their innovative business ideas, with a one-minute video pitch submitted to simulate the signature 60-second elevator ride.
The top ten finalists were given another opportunity to face the judges in a three-minute live pitch and two-minute Q&A, before announcing the overall champion, who took away a cash prize of US$100,000 while each of the category winners received a cash prize of US$10,000 and all ten finalists won US$6,000 each.
The competition marks a major progression for startups who gained valuable exposure among investors and industry leaders in their ongoing entrepreneurship journey. To further bolster the growth and development of local and overseas startups, this year’s EPiC provides a wider array of business opportunities to explore and acquire better understanding of the investment landscape in the region with the upcoming “Global Matching” programme from 9 to 12 November and the “Investment x Corporate Innovation Conference” on 13 November.
List of Winners
|
Award |
Company Name |
Market |
||
|
Champion and Tech Category Winner – Smart City |
United States |
|||
|
Tech Category Winner – Artificial Intelligence & Robotics |
United Kingdom |
|||
|
Tech Category Winner – FinTech |
Philippines |
|||
|
Tech Category Winner – Health Technology |
Portugal |
|||
|
Other Top 10 Finalists |
Australia |
|||
|
|
Hong Kong |
|||
|
|
United States |
|||
|
|
Hong Kong |
|||
|
|
Denmark |
|||
|
|
Hong Kong |
About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
Comprising Science Park, InnoCentre and Industrial Estates, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is a statutory body dedicated to building a vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem to connect stakeholders, nurture technology talents, facilitate collaboration, and catalyse innovations to deliver social and economic benefits to Hong Kong and the region.
Established in May 2001, HKSTP has been driving the development of Hong Kong into a regional hub for innovation and growth in several focused clusters including Electronics, Information & Communications Technology, Green Technology, Biomedical Technology, Materials and Precision Engineering. We enable science and technology companies to nurture ideas, innovate and grow, supported by our R&D facilities, infrastructure, and market-led laboratories and technical centres with professional support services. We also offer value added services and comprehensive incubation programmes for technology start-ups to accelerate their growth.
Technology businesses benefit from our specialised services and infrastructure at Science Park for applied research and product development; enterprises can find creative design support at InnoCentre; while skill-intensive businesses are served by our three industrial estates at Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. 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/20201106005290/en/
Contact information
Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation
Sarah Poon
Tel: +852 2629 7015
Email: sarah.poon@hkstp.org
Edelman
Janice Wong
Tel: +852 2837 4775
Email: Janice.Wong@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
Lattice to Showcase Advanced Edge AI Solutions at the FPGA-forum 202628.1.2026 23:00:00 EET | Press release
Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC), the low power programmable leader, today announced its exhibition plan for the upcoming FPGA-forum 2026 taking place February 11 – 12, 2026 in Trondheim, Norway. As part of the event, Lattice Corporate Vice President of Software Solutions and Applications Engineering Eleena Ong will deliver a keynote presentation exploring how rapidly maturing AI technologies can turn FPGA platforms into innovation canvases for a much broader range of developers, sparking new application possibilities. Lattice will also deliver a technical presentation and host a demo showcase focused on how its low power FPGA solutions are advancing connectivity and edge AI applications. Who: Lattice Semiconductor What / When (GMT+1): Lattice Demo Showcase (Table #3), Feb 11-12 Keynote Feb. 11, 9:30 a.m. “Unlocking the Next Wave of FPGA Innovators with Generative and Agentic AI” Technical Presentation Feb. 12, 10 a.m. “Smaller. Cooler. Smarter: Lattice FPGAs’ Path to Uncompromised
Egon Zehnder Elects German Herrera as New Chair28.1.2026 21:01:00 EET | Press release
Egon Zehnder, the world’s premier leadership advisory firm, today announced that, in accordance with its established governance and three-year election cycle, German Herrera has been elected as the Firm’s next Chair by its worldwide partnership. Herrera will assume the role effective March 1, 2026. He will succeed Michael Ensser, who has held the position since 2022, in a planned succession at the conclusion of his regular term. Herrera joined the Firm in 1998 in Bogotá and has helped shape the Firm’s global presence, taking on a broad range of leadership roles, from co-leading the Global Family Business Advisory Practice to serving on the Executive Committee and the Market Council. Most recently, Herrera has guided Egon Zehnder’s U.S. market through a period of impressive growth and transformation, which today includes 15 offices and more than 150 consultants. As the first Latinx person in this role in the industry, he actively forges strategic partnerships and joint ventures. With ex
De' Longhi Group - Record Preliminary 2025 Revenues of €3.8 Billion, up 10.4% at Constant Exchange Rates28.1.2026 20:25:00 EET | Press release
Below are the preliminary 2025 revenues for the De’ Longhi S.p.A. Group: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260128191504/en/ 12 months, revenues at € 3,801.5 million, growing at 8.7% (+10.4% at constant currency); fourth quarter, revenues at € 1,340.0 million, growing at 5.7% (+8.2% at constant currency). Fabio de' Longhi, CEO of the Group, stated: "The Group achieved solid growth at constant currency of 10.4% in 2025, characterized by consistent results throughout the year. We are particularly pleased with the excellent performance achieved in the fourth quarter, which successfully overcame the challenges posed by the current market environment. The household division consolidated its recent growth momentum during the quarter, with organic growth of 5.2% against a challenging year-over-year comparison. This performance was primarily driven by the structural trend in coffee, amplified by strategic media investmen
Organon Completes Divestiture of JADA ® System to Laborie28.1.2026 19:45:00 EET | Press release
Organon (NYSE: OGN), a global healthcare company with a mission to deliver impactful medicines and solutions for a healthier every day, announced today the successful closing of the sale of its JADA® System to Laborie Medical Technologies Corp. Please see our prior announcement for a summary of the transaction terms. Indications for Use The JADA® System is intended to provide control and treatment of abnormal postpartum uterine bleeding or hemorrhage when conservative management is warranted. Contraindications Ongoing intrauterine pregnancy Untreated uterine rupture Unresolved uterine inversion Current cervical cancer Known uterine anomaly Current purulent infection of vagina, cervix, or uterus For C-sections: Cervix <3 cm dilated before use of JADA Warnings Avoid excessive force when inserting JADA into the uterus or trauma to uterine wall may occur, including perforation. The safety and effectiveness of the JADA System in delivery at a gestational age <34 weeks or, if multiples, uter
Laserfiche Expands AI Data Capture with Auto-Classification to Transform Data into Business Intelligence28.1.2026 17:00:00 EET | Press release
Laserfiche — the leading SaaS provider of intelligent content management — today announced major enhancements to its AI-powered data extraction tool, Smart Fields. The update introduces automated document classification and tagging, allowing organizations to move from unstructured content to informed decisions in seconds. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260128228490/en/ Using natural language prompts instead of rigid, ruled-based OCR, Smart Fields can now identify document type — such as invoices, taxpayer identification forms, or student transcripts — and automatically apply the correct metadata template using AI. Users can also use Smart Fields to automatically add informational and security tags to files that meet certain criteria, defined using a natural language prompt. Users can capture key details, route documents, and apply the proper metadata tags instantly and at scale. “Success in today’s AI-driven
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