JUMPSTARTER Tickets Go on Sale  

 
Hong Kong, January 3, 2019 – The countdown to this year’s JUMPSTARTER, the startup event organized by the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund (the “Fund”), had begun with tickets for the January 23-24 event on sale from today.
 
The event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, part of Hong Kong’s broader 2019 Startmeup Festival, will feature speakers Bernard Chan, GBS, JP, Convenor of Hong Kong’s Executive Council; Dr. Wang Jian, Chairman of Alibaba Group’s Technology Steering Committee; Joe Tsai, Alibaba Group Executive Vice Chairman and Prof. Tony Mok, a world-renowned leader in cancer research and management. Founders of startups including AutoX, Wantedly, DayDayCook, Qupital, NEX Team and Carousell will also speak at the event.
 
For the first time, the event is open to global participants and has been expanded to two days, with 72 shortlisted startups from the Hong Kong and Global tracks showcase their innovations and creative business ideas. Other highlights include keynotes and talks, master classes and workshops, networking, on-stage demo-pitching and an experience workshop of a smart sports app. Leaders from established businesses will join and share their experiences and insights on corporate innovation, as well as having 1:1 mentoring with the startups.
 
JUMPSTARTER IdeaPOP! is introduced this year for university students in Hong Kong with the aim of nurturing young talent with an entrepreneurial mindset. Participants will undergo training to learn best practices for jump-starting a business and how to pitch, together with opportunities to network with industry leaders and interact with other young entrepreneurs. The winning team from Pitch Day will be entitled to sponsorship from the Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund to attend “The First Jack Ma Netpreneur Prize” in Africa and Alibaba internship opportunities for six months.
 
“As the biggest startup event in Hong Kong in terms of scale, JUMPSTARTER aims to provide a platform that connects startups, entrepreneurs and investors so that any entrepreneurs or young people can have the chance to jump-start their dreams in Hong Kong,” said Cindy Chow, Executive Director of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. “Building on the success of the last event, we have expanded its scale, opening it to global participants and inviting representatives from established companies to share their experience and insights on corporate innovation. Through this event we hope to boost entrepreneurship in Hong Kong by encouraging more dialogue and cooperation opportunities .”
 
As a not-for-profit initiative organized by the Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund, JUMPSTARTER aims to identify promising entrepreneurs and provide them with capital, operational support and networking resources to grow their business. The event is open to all growing companies of any size and at any development stage.
 
This year, JUMPSTARTER focuses on four major industries, with “Advanced Technology” receiving the highest number of applications. The other three are “Smart City,” “Retail” and “Financial Services.” Since the launch of the event in November last year, JUMPSTARTER has received over 600 applications and business proposals from startups in 35 countries and regions. Half of the applications are from the Global track, with most coming from China, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the U.S. Companies from other participating countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Aland Islands and Algeria. The majority of the participants are at launch stage, with seed funding completed, and several having already raised over US$10 million.
 
From the 72 shortlisted startups in the Hong Kong and Global tracks, the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneur Fund also today announced the top 24 finalists and invites the public to vote for its favorite startups in each of the four categories. Voting will be done via the JUMPSTARTER event webpage: https://www.jumpstarter.hk/en/vote/form.
 
The results of the public vote will be unveiled at JUMPSTARTER on Jan. 24 and will be weighed in overall rankings. The top 8 teams – the top two from each of the four industry categories ­– will make their pitches to win on the main stage.
 
JUMPSTARTER is organized by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. Since it was established, the Fund has invested in more than 20 companies. The Fund’s investment programme provides entrepreneurs with investment capital and strategic guidance to help them grow their businesses and scale by leveraging resources in Alibaba’s vast ecosystem. The newly invested companies in 2018 included En-trak, Pickupp, StockViva in Hong Kong and Getlinks from overseas. The Fund also participated in follow-up financing for YeeChoo, Aqumon, Qupital and Sandbox during the year.
 
For more information on JUMPSTARTER 2019, please visit www.jumpstarter.hk.
 
###
 
About JUMPSTARTER
 
JUMPSTARTER is a not-for-profit initiative created by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund that provides a platform for all entrepreneurs and young people to jump start their dreams in Hong Kong. It is a first-of-its-kind startup event focused exclusively on showcasing quality start-ups and providing high-impact networking opportunities.
 
Our goal is to build, empower and boost Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem and entrepreneurship by bringing entrepreneurs, corporates, investors and the public together, helping to transform Hong Kong into a leading hub for global innovation and technology.
 
JUMPSTARTER 2019 is co-organized by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Federation Of Hong Kong Industries, Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Hong Kong General Chamber Of Commerce, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, The Chinese General Chamber Of Commerce, Hong Kong, and The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong. 3 Hong Kong, HSBC, Kerry Logistics, SUNeVision are the corporate lead of JUMPSTARTER this year.
 
For media Inquiries, please contact:
 
Crystal Liu
Alibaba Group
+852 63785626
Crystal.liu@alibaba-inc.com
 
Katie Lee
Alibaba Group
+852 68435667
k.lee@alibaba-inc.com
  BACK