HKSTP’s First-Ever Virtual Elevator Pitch Competition 2020 Opens New Investment and Partnership Opportunities for Global Startups
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
HUMAIN and Infra Announce AI and Digital Financing Framework Agreement23.1.2026 15:01:00 EET | Press release
HUMAIN and the National Infrastructure Fund (“Infra”) announced on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, Switzerland, a Strategic Financing Framework Agreement of up to $1.2 billion to support the expansion of AI and digital infrastructure projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Framework Agreement outlines non-binding financing terms for HUMAIN’s development of up to 250 MW of hyperscale AI data center capacity. These data centers will deploy leading edge GPUs for AI training and inference and support HUMAIN’s local, regional and global customers. In addition, Infra and HUMAIN have agreed to explore the establishment of an AI data center investment platform. This would be anchored by the two organizations and structured to facilitate participation by global and local institutional investors to support further scaling of HUMAIN’s AI strategy. Today’s Framework Agreement underscores Infra’s key role in partnering with its counterparts to acce
Cyclic Materials Secures USD $75M Series C Funding to Fast-Track Local and Resilient Rare Earths Supply at Global Scale23.1.2026 14:00:00 EET | Press release
Cyclic Materials today announced it has closed an over-subscribed USD $75 million Series C equity round, its largest to date, scaling up operations across the US and Europe and accelerating Canada-based research and development footprint. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260123519008/en/ Cyclic Materials’ Mesa, Arizona site, the very first scale-up of a commercial plant for recycling and local production of rare earths in the US, with a focus on heavy and light rare earth magnets. The recycling of magnet-containing end-of-life (EOL) scrap and magnet production waste is the fastest way to the production of magnet rare earth elements (REEs) in Western countries, and it can provide unique access to heavy rare earth elements, which are much less commonly available through mining deposits in the Western world. Positioned as both a diversified source of supply and a circular solution that interrupts waste streams, Cy
SLB Announces Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Results, Increases Dividend and Commits to Return More Than $4 Billion to Shareholders in 202623.1.2026 13:50:00 EET | Press release
SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced results for the fourth-quarter and full-year 2025. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260121043645/en/ The exterior of the SLB headquarters in Houston, Texas. Fourth-Quarter Results (Stated in millions, except per share amounts)Three Months EndedChangeDec. 31, 2025Sept. 30, 2025Dec. 31, 2024SequentialYear-on-yearRevenue $9,745 $8,928 $9,284 9% 5% Income before taxes - GAAP basis $943 $1,000 $1,387 -6% -32% Income before taxes margin - GAAP basis 9.7% 11.2% 14.9% -153 bps -526 bps Net income attributable to SLB - GAAP basis $824 $739 $1,095 12% -25% Diluted EPS - GAAP basis $0.55 $0.50 $0.77 10% -29% Adjusted EBITDA* $2,331 $2,061 $2,382 13% -2% Adjusted EBITDA margin* 23.9% 23.1% 25.7% 83 bps -175 bps Pretax segment operating income* $1,807 $1,626 $1,918 11% -6% Pretax segment operating margin* 18.5% 18.2% 20.7% 33 bps -211 bps Net income attributable to SLB, excluding charges & cr
“And I Chose to Live” The Blind Sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto Takes the Stage at WEF23.1.2026 10:00:00 EET | Press release
Mitsuhiro Iwamoto, a blind Japanese sailor based in San Diego, delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026 on January 21 (local time). He is undertaking the world’s first solo, non-stop trans-Pacific crossing by a blind person as part of the “Blind Sailor Single-Handed Pacific Crossing Project 2027.” WEF URL: https://www.weforum.org/ This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260121469502/en/ Hiro Iwamoto / Global Keynote Speaker, First Totally Blind Sailor to Cross the Pacific In the spring of 2027, he will attempt a solo, non-stop trans-Pacific crossing, sailing a 28-foot yacht single-handedly from San Diego on the U.S. West Coast to Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, without making any port calls. Project URL: https://hiros-choice.com/ The theme of his speech was “Sailing Through Barriers.” He spoke about how, since losing his sight at the age of 13, he has consistently chosen challenge as his
Tinaba with Banca Profilo Strengthens Its Global Positioning and Launches Digital Payments in the Chinese Mainland with Alipay+23.1.2026 03:41:00 EET | Press release
Tinaba with Banca Profilo announces the launch of digital payments in the Chinese mainland through the extension of its strategic partnership with Alipay+, Ant International’s global wallet gateway solution, bringing a simple, cashless and local payment experience to Italian travellers in the world’s largest digital market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260122062969/en/ Matteo Arpe, President of Tinaba with Banca Profilo, announces the expanded partnership with Alipay+ in Milan, Italy Starting today, users can pay in the Chinese mainland at over 80 million merchants simply by scanning a QR code directly from the Tinaba App. This innovation is particularly significant in a country where digital payments are the everyday standard and cash is increasingly less used. The service is available directly within the Tinaba App through the “Pay Worldwide with Alipay+” feature, which enables payments in euros with tran
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