Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2020 draws to a close with a total of 97,000 views

Cyberport's annual flagship tech investment event, Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF) closed yesterday with the two-day forum also featuring two international events – the inaugural Edventures Global Business Acceleration Summit and the Silicon Dragon HK 2020, gathering international venture capital experts, investors, innovative technology companies, as well as start-ups from the Cyberport community. Held in a virtual format for the first time, the two-day CVCF main forum attracted more than 1,700 participants this year. Since launching on 21 October, the virtual event platform has recorded a total of 97,000 views.

The forum also arranged one-on-one meetings between investors and start-ups, setting up an impressive total of over 250 meetings to facilitate deal making efforts.

Workshops held in the morning of the second day, invited a number of professional investors and experts to teach practical skills and give notes to start-ups looking to engage investors in the new normal, including how start-ups should highlight their strengths and agility, gauge market demand and validate their business models.

The workshop also discussed how start-ups can recalibrate operationally and psychologically in the aftermath of the epidemic in order to stay competitive and develop their ventures during a period rife with disruptions in global value chains and innovations in science & technology, rising tensions due to trade wars and increasing protectionism measures across countries.

One of the highlights of CVCF this year was the inaugural Edventures Global Business Acceleration Summit co-created with Esperanza, a non-governmental organisation founded by John C Tsang, former Financial Secretary of Hong Kong. The Summit gathered renowned speakers including Richard Culatta, the CEO of International Society for Technology in Education; Kamran Elahian, Chairman and Founder of Global Innovation Catalyst; and Matt Greenfield, the Managing Partner of Rethink Education. The trio shared their insights on areas including global trends in EdTech, demand within the education sector and corporate e-learning market, the development of China’s EdTech sector and its opportunities, and the role of Hong Kong in fostering cross-border cooperation.

The forum concluded with the release of key findings of the EdTech in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) report conducted by London-based SuperCharger Ventures, which shared on the regional investment potential and business opportunities of EdTech.

In the culmination of the Edventures Global Business Acceleration Fellowship, the 10 fellows delivered their final pitches to compete for exclusive tailor-made business matching and consultation services to realise their global ambitions. CoderZ Technology, a virtual STEM and robotics learning platform, was selected as “Education Solutions: Greatest Growth Potential”; Cybint, a cyber security education company, won “Best Adult Learning Solutions”; MEL Science, a science education platform offering hands-on experiments and interactive simulations, was picked as “Education Solutions: Highest Potential Impact”; Mandarin Matrix, an online mandarin learning classroom from Cyberport Community, took the “Audience Favourite” award.

Peter Yan, CEO of Cyberport

In the past few months, we have seen the epidemic accelerate digital transformation in society, which has boosted the development of Cyberport community EdTech start-ups and the widespread adoption of its solutions, impelling the sector to become an anchor for the future of education. EdTech has also become an integral part of the smart living cluster at Cyberport and we are glad to have witnessed some of the brightest EdTech start-ups demonstrate their strengths and gain the opportunity to tap the international market. We hope to see more outstanding EdTech entrepreneurs join Cyberport to inject impetus and bring more innovative solutions into the Hong Kong EdTech ecosystem.

John C Tsang, Founder of Esperanza

EdTech is still in its nascent stages and requires close collaboration and mutual learning amongst multiple stakeholders as we seek to accelerate the transformation of the education ecosystem. We are happy to have Cyberport as our co-creator to work hand-in-hand in promoting 21st century learning solutions with global significance, and in unleashing the potential of Hong Kong as an education innovation hub in the Greater Bay Area.

The Edventures Global Business Acceleration Fellowship aims to assist promising local EdTech companies in capturing market opportunities and expanding their business operations across the global market. Awardees will have the option receive fast-tracked application into the Cyberport Incubation Programme if they decide to establish a presence in Hong Kong over the course of the 12-month Edventures Global Business Acceleration Fellowship.

Once admitted, the awardees will be able to utilize the comprehensive entrepreneurship support platform at Cyberport and secure access to financial and go-to-market assistance, mentorship, business matching services, access to industry networks and further funding opportunities. Furthermore, the fellowship will help EdTech companies go global through access to the Greater Bay Area market.