HKSTP's flagship tech event a big attraction

Contestants from the Asia Pacific showed off their talents at the eighth and biggest ever global Elevator Pitch Competition 2024 (EPiC 2024) grand finale in Hong Kong on April 26.

The grand finale of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation's flagship event featured more than 70 companies representing 16 economies, making it the most international iteration of the global pitching event so far.

Germany's tozero GmbH – a circular economy start-up planning to build Europe's leading lithium-ion battery recycling plant – emerged as the overall champion.

From tech powerhouse Silicon Valley and Stuttgart Germany to the vibrant city-state of Singapore, EPiC 2024 began the journey with over 600 applicants, and it came home with the last 71 semi-finalists standing for one last pitch on FinTech, PropTech and Mobility Tech solutions.

Vincent Choy is co-founder of Singapore-based Bizbaz – a leading technology company specializing in advanced artificial intelligence, data analytics and behavioural science solutions – which won in the event's fintech category.

"I think winning (the fintech track) is the validation of all that work that our team has put into our technology," Choy said. "I think, from a technological standpoint, we have a very unique solution. And it's also very beautiful as well."

Hyde Meng, co-founder and chief executive officer of the PropTech category winner, Roboticplus.AI, described the competition as an amazing experience. "It was a great opportunity to learn about what technology companies around the world are working on and make new acquaintances in a such a short period," he said, "With Hong Kong as a connector, we can bring Chinese mainland technology to Europe, the Middle East and overseas."

Darren Boey, who's from Transparent. AI – a Singapore-based AI company that provides a solution in detecting accounting fraud, said: "We represent the global fight against accounting fraud."

According to Boey, his company can detect firms involved in accounting fraud before the malpractice could blow up. Banks, auditors and asset managers are their target audience and real-life customers. "So, there's a lot at stake here," he said. "In terms of stock or bond holdings, our product can help can basically help customers find out what those companies are, so they can protect themselves or investigate these products."

Referring to the competition, Boey said: "I've never done a one-minute pitch before, and that was the hardest thing. The other thing is like the ears pop as you go up (the elevator) so I had to stop and then keep going. So that can be distracting."

He added it'll be helpful if one could be aware of the popping of the ears.

Oliver Pang from Australia is the co-founder of Greencoat – a start-up developing plasma coating technology for energy-efficient smart windows.

"There's no other company or competitor that uses plasma coating technology like we do," he said. "And, to potentially expand our business into other parts of Asia, I think this was a very good opportunity."

Pang said the event has helped him to further explore Hong Kong and learn more about start-up ecosystems in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Jalil Mekouar from the United Arab Emirates is the founder and chief executive of inHovate Solutions, which develops cloud-based systems catering to hospitality and asset managers.

"The competition was really great. I was very impressed by how it was organized," he said, adding that Asia is an important market for him, and Hong Kong is an important market in Asia and a very important hub place to do business in the continent.

Mekouar said he's keen to expand his business in Asia. "Hong Kong could be the place for us to expand by setting up our operations here," he said. "That's the top objective. The other aim is to meet different people, investors, customers and partners – business partners – and be able to see what can be done in expanding our business."

He said his company is a platform that helps to make hotels more efficient and profitable, and improve customer satisfaction, with data analytics and artificial intelligence to provide analytics, predictions and insights for e hotels. "And, in Asia, the hotel business is very important. So, our platform helps to strengthen the operations and profitability of hotels."

Mekouar described the EPiC competition as an "interesting experience." "I liked it. I've never done it before in one minute, together with three judges. It was a very good experience."