HKUST entrepreneurship competition closes in Nansha

The national final of the HKUST One Million Dollar International Entrepreneurship Competition closes on Dec 20 in Guangzhou's Nansha district. [Photo/gznsnews.com.cn]

The national final of the HKUST One Million Dollar International Entrepreneurship Competition closed on Dec 20 in Guangzhou's Nansha district. 

This year's competition set up eight competition venues for Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, the Yangtze River Delta, Zhongshan, Foshan, Hong Kong, and Macao, attracting a total of 1,826 projects to compete in it.

First held in 2011, the competition has attracted a total of 5,803 projects to participate in it, cultivating a batch of excellent entrepreneurship companies and entrepreneurs like drone manufacturer DJI.

An awards ceremony for the top 10 unicorn-to-be companies started by HKUST teachers and students or which have participated in the competition was also held on the same day. Companies entering the list also have to own unique leading advantages in a specific field, while also having an estimated value from 1 billion yuan ($152.74 million) to 10 billion yuan.

These 10 companies, including APT Electronics Co Ltd, CloudDeep Technology, and Arctic Vision (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co Ltd, will settle in Nansha and seek development opportunities together with the Guangzhou campus of HKUST. 

Several of these 10 companies, as well as the top 10 teams of the competition and HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute signed agreements to settle in or cooperate with the Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao Youth Entrepreneurship Hub in Nansha. Each team will receive a one-time subsidy of 700,000 yuan.

Gao Ming, head of the HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute, said that the research institute will make full use of the opportunities brought by the 10th anniversary of the competition to deepen its cooperation with Nansha in innovation and entrepreneurship.