The annual Cyberport Venture Capital Forum 2023 kicked off on the 31st October, gathering over 80 influential venture experts and entrepreneurial visionaries.

This year’s theme is “Venture Forward: Game Changing through Innovation” where the focus was to delve into the prospects and strategies for the venture capital market to capitalise on emerging trends such as Web 3.0 and AI.

This year’s forum also took the lead in fostering regional collaboration, with specific focuses on the Middle East, ASEAN, and the Greater Bay Area, recognising them as promising hubs of opportunity.

“As we ‘venture forward’, innovation is the key to ‘change the game’. The Policy Address, announced last week, included an AI supercomputing centre to be built in Cyberport in phases from 2024, to support the huge demand for computing power from R&D, academic and industry sectors and promote AI ecosystem and industry development.

 

This manifests the key role of emerging technologies like AI in bringing Hong Kong’s I&T developments to new heights. We hope the insights shared at CVCF this year will help all of us navigate the new frontiers of venture capital ahead.”

said Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport.

The forum also marked the 6th anniversary of the Cyberport Investors Network (CIN). With over 170 members, CIN has overseen investments exceeding HK$ 2 billion (US$ 255 million).

Despite market volatilities, Cyberport startups raised over HK$3 billion (US$ 380 million) between October 2022 and September 2023. The community also welcomed its 7th unicorn, CertiK.

Over the last year, CIN facilitated investments of over HK$340 million (US$ 43.4 million). Its diverse membership now includes members from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Southeast Asia, and beyond, marking an influx of investment from these areas.

Hendrick Sin, Chairperson of Cyberport Investors Network (CIN) Steering Group and Cyberport Macro Fund (CMF) Investment Committee said,

“Despite the turbulent currents in this year’s capital market, ‘smart money’ is still in place – investors continue to seek promising projects to support, with their primary focus being undeniable evidence of business sustainability. CIN has acted as a compass for both startups and investors, aiding them to be on the front foot to capture emerging opportunities.

 

As the HKSAR Government continues to strengthen regional cooperation with the markets of ASEAN and the Middle East, looking ahead, CIN and CMF will continue to collaborate synergistically to foster investment matching and business collaboration opportunities to amplify Hong Kong start-ups’ impact.”