HONG KONG, Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Make a Difference ("MaD"), a not-for-profit NGO-public-private partnership, is pleased to organise the MaD Ventures Salon on 25 Jan 2013, Hong Kong's first international pitching platform for young, doing good and doing well entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and 9 other countries. The MaD Ventures Salon is a highlight of the Make a Difference Venture Fellows Programme launched in September this year.
MaD Venture Fellows Programme to Celebrate and Attract Entrepreneurial Talent (24-27 Jan 2013)
The MaD Venture Fellows Programme aims to celebrate a new generation of innovative and high impact entrepreneurs as role models in the society. It also seeks to enhance the global connections of local entrepreneurs and attract entrepreneurial businesses to Hong Kong. A vetting committee comprising representatives from McKinsey (Hong Kong), angel investors and academics, has selected the 2013 MaD Venture Fellows. Close to 20 MaD Venture Fellows from Hong Kong and 9 other countries (see Annex 1 for more information) will attend a 4-day programme in Hong Kong from 24-27 Jan 2013. They will meet potential investors, partners and mentors, network with the entrepreneurial and professional community in Hong Kong and inspire young people in Hong Kong to make a difference.
"The MaD Venture Fellows Programme seeks to champion young entrepreneurs who apply commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximising profits," said Rachel Chan, convenor of the MaD Venture Fellows Programme. "These for-purpose ventures can have different business models, from non-profit to for-profit organisations; and work in diverse sectors, from the environment, energy, education, medical and health care to technology that enhances productivity and connectivity."
MaD Ventures Salon to Facilitate Talent and Capital Flows (25 Jan 2013)
Showcasing MaD Venture Fellows
Six MaD Venture Star Finalists will be invited to present at the MaD Ventures Salon on 25 Jan. The Salon will also showcase the work of the other MaD Venture Fellows. The Fellows will bring the Salon participants with investment, business and CSR opportunities. The Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government will officiate at the Salon, which expects some 200 attendees, including investors, finance and investment professionals, philanthropists, CSR practitioners and business executives looking for new product ideas and opportunities.
The 6 MaD Venture Star finalists include two teams from Hong Kong: Insight Robotics and One Earth Group. Insight Robotics (www.insightrobotics.com) applies robotics technology to visualize remote incidents like forest fire, structural damage in buildings, oil leak, water pollution, flooding, drought and security breach and assist management authorities to make the most efficient contingency plans. One Earth Designs (www.oneearthdesigns.com) provides customizable solar energy technologies to meet all the energy needs of households in emerging economies.
Six MaD Venture Star Finalists
| Name of Venture | Nature of Business | Location |
| Bookbridge | Education | Switzerland |
| Holstee | Sustainable Lifestyle Products | USA |
| Insight Robotics | Remote Disaster Monitoring | Hong Kong |
| One Earth Designs | Solar Energy | Hong Kong |
| Wibbitz | Text-to-Video Technology | Israel |
| Wifinity Tech | Energy Management | India |
The four overseas finalists are from India, Israel, Switzerland and the US. They are looking for business partners in Hong Kong to grow their businesses in Asia. "Many overseas MaD Venture Fellows see Hong Kong as a strategic partner for their businesses and a springboard to the vast and fast growing Asia market," Rachel Chan said. "Some have received their first round of funding in Hong Kong, some are actively looking for distributors, manufacturing and other business development partners from Hong Kong; and a few are even planning to establish a presence in Hong Kong. The Salon will bring more opportunities to these entrepreneurs and to businesses in Hong Kong."
Expert and Crowd Voting to Select 3 MaD Venture Stars
A distinguished panel of judges (see Annex 2) chaired by Mr. Bernard Chan will select three MaD Venture Stars from the six finalists presenting at theMaD Ventures Salon. The attendees will also be invited to participate in the judging process at the Salon, through an instant polling system. The scores from the judges and the Salon participants will constitute 80% and 20% of the total respectively.
The three MaD Venture Stars will be invited to speak at the 2013 MaD Forum together with other inspiring change makers from around the world; receive a one-year customised mentorship; enjoy free business matching with partners or service providers in Hong Kong as well as free exhibition at a designated Hong Kong Trade Development Council fair. They may also be invited by leading universities in Hong Kong to do a case study on their ventures.
Panel Discussion 1: Can Hong Kong become another Silicon Valley?
Experts from the US, Singapore and Hong Kong will share their perspectives on whether we could replicate the Silicon Valley in Asia, and what Hong Kong can learn from the Silicon Valley and Singapore in building a more vigorous entrepreneurship ecosystem to nurture and attract more innovative and high impact entrepreneurs. The three experts are:
Panel Discussion 2 and Workshop: Invite HK Investors to Make Meaning and Money
Hong Kong investors are well known for their strong appetites for the stock and property markets. The MaD Ventures Salon also aims to encourage the investing community in Hong Kong to diversify their portfolios by investing in purposeful and sustainable ventures. Four local speakers will share their perspectives on how investors could make meaning and money, including:
Brigit Baumann, President of the European Business Angel Network, will speak on the emerging trends and opportunities for investors to make money and meaning. She will also conduct an exclusive workshop in the afternoon of 25 Jan on 'impact investing' as an emerging asset class, the role of investors, co-investing with like-minded investors, the investment process and performance metrics. The workshop is specially designed for angel investors, wealth advisors, family offices and foundation representatives.
Entrepreneurship Reignited
In recent years, there are signs that the entrepreneurial scene in Hong Kong is regaining some vigor. There are start-up events almost every week. Universities are investing more resources into entrepreneurship courses. Several co-work spaces have also been established, including the Good Lab with Make a Difference as a founding partner. A new Hong Kong Business Angel Network was set up last year. The HKSAR Government is also reviewing what it can do to develop a more vigorous entrepreneurship ecosystem. "The MaD Ventures Salon will be a timely forum to enable a more focused discussion on the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Hong Kong, "Rachel Chan concluded.
| Venue: 33/F, 9 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong | ||
| Morning Plenary: Complementary admission, including a networking lunch | ||
| Afternoon Workshop: HK$500 (HK$400 for members of partners and supporting organisations) | ||
| Information & Registration: www.mad.asia/posts/256 | Tel: 852-2560-5226 | Email: venture@mad.asia |
| Register on or before 15 Jan 2013. Places are limited and subject to discretion of the organizer. | ||
Annex 1: Entrepreneurs Participating in the 2013 Make a Difference Venture Fellows Programme in Hong Kong
| 2013 MaD Venture Star Finalists |
About the Venture |
| Bookbridge, Dr Carsten Ruebsaamen (Switzerland) |
Bookbridge (www.bookbridge.org) strives for worldwide balanced access to education. In least developed countries we set up learning centers in rural areas that bring quality education to people in need. In developed countries, we provide international executives with an out-of-the-box, cross-cultural learning experience by presenting them with the task of developing a learning centre as a social business. So far, we have setup 10 learning centers in Mongolia (8) and Cambodia (2), serving some 7,000 active members in our learning centers. |
| Holstee, Michael Radparvar (US) |
Holstee (shop.holstee.com) is a sustainable lifestyle brand that exists to encourage a mindful lifestyle. We offer goods that are produced with respect for people, planet and product. Whenever possible we produce using waste materials, we make sure to pay fair wages across the supply chain and aim to empower underprivileged groups with our work and minimize shipping across long distances. We are a values-driven company aiming to have a scalable impact on a global level. The Holstee Manifesto, the company's mission statement, has been shared over 80 million times online and was described by the Washington Post as "the new just do it". |
| Insight Robotics, Kevin Chan (Hong Kong) |
Insight Robotics (www.insightrobotics.com) aims at applying robotics technology to the protection of critical infrastructures and key resources around the world. We visualize remote incidents like forest fire, structural damage in buildings, oil leak, water pollution, flooding, drought and security breach to management authorities and assist them to make the most efficient contingency plans. We also assist the management authorities in disaster recovery and build a better world with less disaster. |
| One Earth Designs, Catlin Powers (Hong Kong) |
One Earth Designs (www.oneearthdesigns.com) aims to become the 'green Apple' of the emerging markets. The customizable solar energy technologies in our SolSource product line can eventually meet all the energy needs of customer households, including cooking, electricity, heating, and water purification using concentrated solar energy. Our products save lives, reduce carbon emissions, save time for women, and save money for families. We launched our SolSource S1 on the market at the end of the third quarter 2012. |
| Wibbitz, Zohar Dayan (Israel) |
Wibbitz (www.wibbitz.com) creates a text-to-video technology that automatically turns any text-based article, post or feed on the web into a video. Our technology introduces a whole new way of consuming content and information in a much more visual and effortless way. It brings costs and production time down for SME publishers and content providers. It reduces the barriers of language limitations, content complexity and even assists the visually impaired. |
| Wifinity Tech, Jay Krishnan (India) |
Wifinity's expertise (www.wifinity.tech) is in innovative wireless sensing, artificial intelligence and machine to machine learning. The venture is focused on providing easy-to-use demand-side management to enable sustainability optimization through energy & water conservation using disruptive meshed wireless technologies. Enterprises and public institutions can have 20% reduction of energy bills and 30% wastage reduction, with ROI in less than 12 months. |
| Other 2013 MaD Venture Fellows Participating in the Programme in Hong Kong |
About the Venture |
| AdvanPro, Aaron Wang (Hong Kong) |
AdvanPro (www.advanpro.hk) provides wearable soft sensing technologies and value-added products and services for medical, healthcare, sports industries. |
| Comilion Mobile, Kobi Freedman (Israel) | Comilion is dealing with mobile security and offering a disruptive approach towards risk evaluation and handling. We aim towards offering the billion of mobile users the effective and enjoyable experience - while maintaining a higher security environment. |
| Horizon Corporate Volunteer Consultancy, Zhulu (Chinese Mainland) | Horizon Corporate Volunteer Consultancy (www.hcvcchina.com) provides professional consultancy, training and research in corporate volunteering in China. |
| Joy Sprouts, Suzanne So (Hong Kong) |
Joy SproutsTM (www.joysprouts.com) is a single-app market place for interactive educational content on iPad targeting kids ages 2-6. It aims to develop their talents in a holistic and amusing fashion, built upon the U.S. Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework. The app keeps track of a child's progress and gives recommendations to parents. |
| OHK Medical Devices, Oded Fishelzon (Israel) |
OHK's vision (www.hemaclear.com) is to develop and market innovative products that make surgical practices more efficient, along with safer patient outcomes. Focusing on simple single-use solutions, which require minimal training. HermaClear is the world's leading sterile, single use tourniquet with a simple and innovative technology that represents a cheaper, easier and safer standard of care in bloodless orthopedic surgery. |
| Penyo Pal, Jane Wu (Canada) |
Penyo Pal (penyopal.com) is an award-winning education company that takes the pain out of learning a foreign language for children around the world. Penyo Pal combines research, play and kid-tested design to create games and interactive stories for mobile and web, so children can play to a new language and new opportunities. |
| SNIPS, Rand Hindi (France) | SNIPS work with large corporations, public institutions and startups to help them build new products out of their existing data. |
| Sunlabob Renewable Energy, Lloyd Osborne (Laos) |
Sunlabob (www.sunlabob.com) specialises in renewable energy and clean water projects in developing areas of the world. Founded in 2001, the company provides an array of on- and off-grid, sustainable development solutions and services, ranging from solar power micro-grids to water purification. |
| Syntellia, Ioannis Verdelis (US) |
Fleksy (syntellia.com), our revolutionary keyboard technology, was originally designed for the visually impaired. It makes it so easy to type on smartphones that one can type even without looking at the screen. Winner of CES Award. |
| ThinkLABS, Gagan Goyal (India) |
ThinkLABS (thinklabs.in) aims to play a catalytic role in addressing challenges in science and technology education through innovative, affordable and sustainable solutions. It offers pioneering programs leading to experiential learning, through both hardware (educational devices) and software platform. |
| Vita-Genes, Eric Chen (Hong Kong) | VITA-Genes was formed to ride on the personal genomic era, pushing it forward and making it mainstream in most industries where applicable, with the healthcare industry as the primary target. Our action plan is divided into three phases: First, making genomics and DNA testing mainstream in the skin and body anti-aging industry. Second, developing more innovative DNA tests which will let us get into other beauty related industries. Finally, developing innovative DNA test solutions such as disease prevention, anti-aging, and many others. |
| WHILL, Sugie Satoshi (Japan) |
WHILL (whill.jp) is designing mobility vehicles available for all people - from the disabled, non-disabled, to the elderly- who want to cruise the streets with style. |
| Yotpo, Tomer Tagrin (Israel) |
Yotpo (www.yotpo.com) is a social review plug and play solution. It brings an amazing, social and personalised experience so that every ecommerce can start generating social reviews. It enables buyers read real reviews from real people. |
Annex 2: Judging Panel
About Make a Difference
Make a Difference (www.MaD.asia) is a Hong Kong-based initiative launched in 2010 to inspire and empower a new generation of leaders in Asia. Targeting young people aged 16-35, MaD comprises an annual forum in January with 1,200 participants and inspiring change makers from different arenas around the world, and activities throughout the year in and outside Hong Kong to promote creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
MaD is a not-for-profit NGO-public-private partnership, organised by Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture and co-created by InnoFoco. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the HKSAR Government (CreateHK Office) is the patron and founding sponsor.
The Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government and DBS are the main sponsors of the MaD Ventures Salon. Strategic partners include Cyberport, Information Services Department, InvestHK, Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Science and Technology Park.
For enquiry about the MaD Ventures Salon, please contact Rachel Chan of InnoFoco, the Convenor of the MaD Venture Fellows Programme at venture@mad.asia or (852) 2560 5226.
