Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF), Cyberport’s annual tech investment event, will return on 3-4 November. This year’s event will be held in a virtual and interactive format for the first time, covering how the tech venture ecosystem has been reshaped under the new normal for investors, enterprises and technopreneurs. The two-day virtual forum will gather more than 50 global venture capital (VC) experts to examine key silver linings through a variety of keynotes and panel discussions. Over 80 virtual booths will be set up for start-ups to showcase innovative tech solutions as part of a comprehensive platform to connect start-ups with investors for power pitching and provide opportunities to explore tech venturing dynamics.
As the digital tech flagship in Hong Kong, Cyberport is dedicated to facilitating deal flow for start-ups and enriching the regional VC landscape. Echoing the event’s overarching theme, “Navigating New Normal of Tech Venturing”, over 50 international and local experts from major industry players, including Qiming Venture Partners, Alibaba Group, IESE Business School and LEGO Ventures, will discuss the latest global paradigm shift in the tech venturing landscape that has stemmed from the current macro-economic outlook and mega trends. They will cover topics such as the latest strategies from VC and corporate ventures, new investment spaces like venture debt, the development of education technology (EdTech), the geo-political impact of cross-border capital flow and investor orientations with regards to the China-US trade war and Asia market dynamics, digital transformation in high potential verticals, funding strategies for start-ups, and more.
Peter Yan, CEO of Cyberport, said: “The challenges brought about by the Covid-19 epidemic to the economy have at the same time accelerated the digital transformation of enterprises and the wide adoption of various digital business models like online-to-offline, virtual events, work and learn from home. There is also an increasing demand in tech-assisted healthcare and other contactless lifestyle applications. All these translate to an unprecedented conducive business environment for our tech start-ups to grow and more than ever, a strong need for investors to leverage the Cyberport platform to identify quality companies with strong talents and promising business models.
“Cyberport remains committed to spring-boarding start-ups to success, and the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum is the key event for us to bridge investors with our tech community as well as the annual destination for our Cyberport Investor Network (CIN) to gather, share their views on the latest developments and exchange insights oncoming trends. I look forward to another year of illuminating sharings by industry leaders and productive exchanges and matchings between the tech community and investors.”
Starting from 21 October, CVCF will kick off the month-long virtual experience with conference and workshop content available 24/7 on its dedicated event platform. The Innovator showcase will feature virtual booths of tech solutions and allow investors and audience members to interact with the most enterprising innovators to explore collaborations. At the Founder Stage, short pitch videos will be streamed for promising start-ups across different fields to present their projects to investors and to gain exposure. These will also be available to view on-demand on the event platform. Investor matching sessions will allow one-on-one investor meetings with start-ups based on tech sectors and investment appetite between late October to early November.
International engagement
To reach a wider global audience of investors and start-ups, this year is the first time CVCF is partnering with the Consulates General of Canada and Israel respectively, Macau Young Entrepreneur Innovation Centre, and leading co-working spaces in Hong Kong to bring in start-ups and investors.
The Edventures Global Business Acceleration Summit on the second event day will gather innovators, investors, educators and talent development professionals who are looking for solutions and opportunities in the education technology space. Speakers of the event include Richard Culatta, CEO, International Society for Technology in Education, Kamran Elahian, Chairman and Founder of Global Innovation Catalyst and Matt Greenfield, Managing Partner of Rethink Education.
During the Summit, 10 finalists of the Edventures GBA Fellowship, a global competition to help growth stage EdTech start-ups expand internationally, will compete for the chance to connect with business matching and market expansion consultancies. The finalists from Hong Kong, Finland, Mainland China, the UK and the US, will be showcasing their ventures, ranging from early childhood education to lifelong learning solutions. These finalists together with EdTech start-ups at Cyberport will also exhibit at the concurrent Virtual Global Edventures Expo from 23 Oct – 22 Nov.
