To cultivate innovative and entrepreneurial ambiance within the university community and nurture socially responsible young entrepreneurs with the "Do Well Do Good" entrepreneurial spirit, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) established the "PolyU Micro Fund" Scheme in 2011 to provide seed funding for students and alumni to support their entrepreneurial venturing. The 2015 "PolyU Micro Fund" award presentation ceremony cum 5th anniversary celebration was held today (30 September) at Hotel ICON.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Miranda Lou, Vice President (Administration and Business) of PolyU, said, "Micro Fund has entered its 5th anniversary. Over the past 5 years, the Scheme supported 79 startup ventures and nurtured over 220 young entrepreneurs. Micro Fund awardees had secured further funding and incubation support with an aggregate amount of $42 million, a leverage of 800% compared to $5.6 million disbursed thus far through the Scheme."
This year, Micro Fund awarded 15 business propositions out of more than 160 applications following a stringent assessment process. The various business ventures include fashion and multimedia design, online learning platform, green education, upcycling design and environmentally friendly products.
Among them is SHIGO, a contemporary fashion brand, adopting 3D printing technology in making 3D embellishment in garment. SHIGO is established by Kiwib Wong Wing Yan and David Cheng Chung Yin, two students from PolyU's Institute of Textiles and Clothing. The 3D embellishment design has become SHIGO's signature collection and the team is invited to showcase it to the world in the upcoming LA Fashion Week to be held in October this year.
Another Micro Fund awarded venture in 2012, AdvanPro Limited, founded by Aaron Wang, a PhD graduate from PolyU's Institute of Textiles and Clothing, got multiple awards throughout the years. AdvanPro had successfully been licensed PolyU's fabric sensing technologies developed by the University for developing healthcare and medical products. Besides, AdvanPro was also admitted into the IncuTech Programme of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and NEST AIA Accelerator. In 2014, it was honoured with the first runner-up of Innovation Nanshan "Entrepreneur Star" Competition and Excellence Prize of Asian Science Park Association (ASPA) Awards. AdvanPro successfully raised US$1.9 million (approximately HK$15 million) Venture Capital (VC) Series A funding in 2015, providing major impetus for the company's continuous development.
At the same event, Dr Miranda Lou also announced that Micro Fund's seed funding will be increased from $100,000 to $120,000 with additional resources to support PolyU students and alumni to establish their new ventures effectively.
In addition, to augment conventional classroom learning with hands-on experience and exposure, and provide startups with networking opportunities, PolyU has been running "out-of-classroom" education and learning programmes, such as seminars, workshops, forums, visits and study missions, mentorship programmeetc. to help startups overcome difficulties in the initial period.
*****
