Southeast China Morning Post

Several Southeast Asian start-ups are choosing Hong Kong to develop their business, pointing to the city’s connection to mainland China and wider funding sources as the main reasons, while dismissing concerns about a brain drain.

The firms were among 10 that won awards at City University’s HK Tech 300 Southeast Asia Start-up Competition, and hailed from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The competition involved more than 100 start-ups, with each winner receiving HK$1 million as an angel investment from the university’s flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme, HK Tech 300.

“The very main reason [for developing our business in Hong Kong] is the connection to the mainland, and then the accessibility to venture funding, grant funding or government funding,” said Harry Chen Hong-yuan, partner and chief financial Officer of E3A Healthcare.

The company, which produces medical devices for women and newborns, was founded in Singapore in 2019 and set up a holding company that year in Hong Kong.

The firm established a research and development centre in the city last year after learning about funding provided by Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Fund, as well as a receiving a grant from the Science Park.

“So we thought that was helpful for us to lower our costs,” Chen said. “And the other thing is that Hong Kong has a lot of universities … because we are a medical device company, we have to work with a lot of hospitals and usually through the institution is the best way to connect with local clinical resources.