Meet five Gen.T honourees who are disrupting industries with their innovative tech startups
Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem made significant strides in 2019, with the number of startups growing by 21 percent. Investment in startups also reached US$720 million last year, according to Jayne Chan, head of StartmeupHK, an initiative backed by government organisation Invest HK.
“We have seven official unicorns [in Hong Kong] and... we expect to see this growth to continue,” says Chan.
Hong Kong also ranked 13th in innovation globally last year, according to the Global Innovation Index 2019. The report identified biotechnology, artificial intelligence, smart city and financial technologies as four areas of strength for the city.
As a platform for the Leaders of Tomorrow, most Gen.T honourees are entrepreneurs, and more still are in tech. All of which makes picking just five people an almost impossible task. Our solution? We've picked five that represent a cross-section of the Hong Kong-based tech honourees. From the founder of a coding school to the world's most renowned VR gaming platform, here are five tech entrepreneurs in Hong Kong you need to know.
Eric Gnock Fah
Company Asia’s largest travel and activity booking platform, Klook—one of Hong Kong's first unicorns.
Founded 2014.
Need To Know What started out as a three-person team now employs over 1,000 people across 20 locations worldwide.
Quote Fah told CNBC he was inspired to start Klook when he realised travel was “a dinosaur industry”.
What's new? Klook recently teamed up with on-demand delivery startup Lalamove, founded by fellow honouree Gary Hui, to offer express food delivery in support of the city's food and beverage industry amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
Future Plans Klook is planning further expansion in the US and Europe, having recently finalised a global partnership with train ticket operator Rail Europe.
See also: Klook Co-Founder Eric Gnock Fah On How The Company Is Transforming Travel Experiences