More than 300 fundraising matching meetings were successfully held at CVCF 2021. Investors and startups were able to interact and explore the future potential for a win-win partnership.
On November 3, 2021, the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF) came to a close. The two-day event was hosted in a hybrid style of digital and offline participation. The conference covered numerous prominent emerging investment subjects, including the new space economy, non-fungible tokens (NFT), environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and others.
The Cyberport annual premiere venture forum brought together a slew of global venture capital professionals, investors, innovation and technology firms and Cyberport startups. With the theme “Venturing for Success: Resilience, Growth & Opportunity”, the conference sheds light on the critical discourse surrounding the post-pandemic tech and venture ecosystem.
Despite the tremendous hurdles posed by the epidemic, entrepreneurs persevered and saw strong venture transaction activity. Their development and financial potential have been boosted by innovation, technology, and digitalization. Startups were given the opportunity to advance their businesses at CVCF. Furthermore, the forum gave participants an in-depth overview of the most recent trends and prospects in venture capital and innovative technologies, as well as creating investment opportunities for entrepreneurs.
At CVCF, attendees had the opportunity to hear from over 100 prominent speakers in a variety of settings, including panel discussions, special sessions, keynote talks and more. The guest speakers who shared their insights included the Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Dr. David Chung, JP, the Chairman of Cyberport, Dr. George Lam, the CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Mr. Nicolas Aguzin, and the partner at KPMG China, Ms. Irene Chu.
Cyberport FinTech InnoCon
Took place on November 1, the Cyberport FinTech InnoCon brought together more than 30 leaders from regulatory authorities, professional groups and startups to explore emerging trends and opportunities for technology application in various financial services areas, including regulatory technology (RegTech), insurance technology (InsurTech), environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and cross-border finance in the Greater Bay Area. Under the theme “Innovation of FinTech Proof-of-Concept for Hong Kong Financial Services Industry”, the spotlight event looked into innovative case studies on financial institutions and startups who took part in the Fintech-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme to demonstrate how a win-win situation can be achieved between traditional financial institutions and FinTech companies.
On RegTech in Hong Kong, Alternate Chief Executive and Chief Compliance Officer of WeLab Bank, Ms. Millie Pau, said that the key drivers for RegTech are the “complete new generations of customers, regulators and also users [the compliance offices]”, who have great demand for real-time services at their fingertips. Further, Chief Executive Officer of FundingReach Group, Mr. William Lam, was positive about Hong Kong becoming one of the global leaders on RegTech by 2025, given that Hong Kong possesses great talent as well as excellent results and deliverables on compliance.
Edventures GBA Summit explores EdTech development
Co-hosted by Cyberport and Esperanza, which was founded by Mr. John Tsang, the Edventures Global Business Acceleration Summit (Edventures GBA Summit) was a highlight event at CVCF 2021. With the title “Think Big with EdTech, From Quick Fix to Driver of Change”, the summit looked at how education technology (EdTech) has evolved from a supplementary tool for remote learning during the pandemic to an innovative tool that drives learning in the 21st century. It also aimed to forge Hong Kong into an EdTech hub in the Greater Bay Area.
EdTech experts from mainland China, the U.S., Finland, Israel and Hong Kong shared their insights into EdTech topics, such as its global application trends and opportunities, the transformation of new models of workforce development in the digital age and various funding models for EdTech ventures.
“The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation within society, driving the development of EdTech and its adoption by the general public. These developments have prompted us to reimagine our models of education and talent cultivation in the 21st century. Cyberport’s EdTech community continues to grow and now consists of more than 140 EdTech start-ups who are thriving under the various support programs provided by Cyberport,” said Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer of Cyberport.
Another spotlight event at this year’s CVCF was the world-renowned venture event Silicon Dragon Online 2021. Featuring venture capitalists, including Founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, John Chambers, and General Partner of SOSV and Managing Director of Chinaccelerator and MOX, William Bao Bean, the event covered updates of the industry and exchanges from the region’s elite investment thought leaders.
It is not the end
The CVCF online platform will remain open until November 26. On the platform, you can visit the online booths, review startups’ presentations and replay all speaking sessions on demand. Virtual pass is available for free registration at https://cvcf.cyberport.hk/en/registration. With these, startups can keep on seeking venture opportunities and promoting their creative technological solutions.
Also, Ideaink has provided graphic recordings as recaps for each event at CVCF. Don’t forget to check them out if you are curious about the insightful discussions that took place at the forum!
Dr. George Lam, Chairman of Cyberport, said, “I believe the participating investors and startups have gained a much deeper comprehension of the future developments of venture capital and the dynamics of the fundraising marketplace. I am also pleased to see investors and startups being enabled to exchange, and explore future opportunities for win-win collaboration, with a sizable number of fundraising matching meetings successfully held at the event.”
Cyberport will continue to encourage and enable the interaction of entrepreneurs and investors with the aim of expanding their business network and converting the fruits of their discoveries into commercial prospects.
Header Image Courtesy of Cyberport
