Written by: Techub News
With just an idea, Ivan, a local Web3 entrepreneur born in the 1980s in Hong Kong, received a subsidy of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars from the Hong Kong government, and subsequent subsidies of one million Hong Kong dollars are still beckoning him.
All this is thanks to the Hong Kong government's support for entrepreneurship in the Web3 field. Cyberport has assumed the function of directly supporting start-ups. In January 2023, Hong Kong established the "Cyberport Web3 Base", and the budget announced that it would allocate HK$50 million to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem.
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote on June 18, Father's Day, that since the establishment of the "Cyberport Web3 Base", there are now nearly 180 Web3 companies in Cyberport.
If you want to start a Web3 company, how can you successfully settle in Cyberport and get more than one million Hong Kong dollars in subsidies? Techub News will help you sort out a guide.
Details of Cyberport's million-dollar subsidy
In September 2022, lvan had an idea to combine AI+web3+ fitness dance social platform, allowing users to dance fitness dance and share videos on any AI-recognized device while earning incentives.
The following month, the Hong Kong SAR government issued a declaration on virtual assets.
Ivan also began to sort out his entrepreneurial ideas. Ivan immediately applied for the CCMF (Creative Micro Fund) incubation program on Cyberport’s official website.
In January 2023, Hong Kong established the "Cyberport Web3 Base", and the budget announced that it would allocate HK$50 million to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem.
In February, lvan's project DanceFit received an interview notice. Among more than 100 application projects, about 40 projects passed the screening and entered the interview stage, and about 10 projects passed the interview.
"I looked at the list, and there is one web3 type including me. Most of the others are from other technology types. The team backgrounds are from Europe, America, South Korea, Japan, etc., but 30% are Chinese teams." lvan told Techub News.
Ivan revealed that he received a subsidy of HK$10,000 as soon as he passed the initial round of interviews.
The main body of Cyberport is Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and is committed to cultivating technology talents, supporting start-ups and creating an innovation and technology ecosystem for Hong Kong. Since its completion in 2004, it has brought together 1,900 start-ups and technology companies, including many unicorns such as Klook and Animoca Brands, as well as GOGOX, which has been listed in Hong Kong.
lvan told Techub News that in February and March this year, when everyone started discussing Hong Kong policies, many entrepreneurs came to him to ask how to apply for funding from Cyberport.
"Each company can apply for a maximum of HK$1.3 million without giving up equity, which is equivalent to free funding." Linda, who specializes in providing consulting services for companies applying for Cyberport, told Techub News that there are two main types of projects that start-ups can apply for funding: CCMF (Creative Micro Fund) and CIP (Incubation Program).
The requirements of CCMF are relatively low. As long as you have an idea in the field of Web3, you can apply for it. The application fund can reach 100,000. The incubation period is half a year, and an interview is conducted every 3 months. If you pass the interview, you can get funds in stages. 10,000 Hong Kong dollars will be issued in the first stage, 45,000 Hong Kong dollars will be issued in the second stage, and 45,000 Hong Kong dollars will be issued in the third stage.
lvan told Techub News that his project has currently received the full HK$100,000 in funding.
But in reality, it is not that smooth for applicants who are not Hong Kong residents. For example, during the process of disbursement of funds, you must hold a Hong Kong bank account to successfully transfer the funds. Once you miss the incubation period, the funds will no longer be disbursed.
“If you are not a Hong Kong resident, you need to have an office in Hong Kong to open an account, which means the lowest cost to open an account is to apply for a workstation in Cyberport, which costs HK$1,780 a month,” Linda told Techub News.
"For things like opening an account, there will be dedicated people at Cyberport to help you," Linda said.
Since the CCMF program is mainly aimed at young entrepreneurs in the early stages of development, applicants must be between 18 and 30 years old. If you apply as an individual, you must have a Hong Kong household registration. If you apply as a company, team members must be between 18 and 30 years old.
In contrast, the application threshold for CIP is higher.
“CIP expects you to have a clear product business that can be promoted, or at least to launch the product within 12 months after the successful application, and also requires a 12 to 18-month marketing plan,” Linda told Techub News.
Therefore, newly established projects can apply for CCMF first, and then apply for CIP after being selected.
The hard requirements for applying for CIP include:
1. The applicant must be a company registered in Hong Kong;
2. The project was established less than 7 years before the application;
3. The applicant must hold more than 51% of the company's shares. If not, a shareholder authorization letter is required;
4. For companies whose applications are approved, at least one person in the team must be stationed in Hong Kong for 1 year, but they do not need to work in Cyberport.
According to the experience of Liu Ye Jinghong, the chief writer of the self-media Weisman Notes, if you move into Cyberport, there will be a 30% attendance requirement, and the attendance rate will be calculated based on the clock-in and clock-out records. You are not required to be in the office and can just clock in and leave, but the 30% attendance rate does not specify whether it is for one week or one year.
"So you can see that there are a lot of vacancies in the offices in Cyberport, but in fact they have all been rented out," said Liu Ye.
Entrepreneurs who apply for CIP can receive up to HK$500,000, with an incubation period of two years, to be disbursed in four phases.
If the application is approved, you can get HK$100,000. If you pass the first round of interviews, you can get HK$50,000. If you pass the second round of interviews, you can continue to get HK$50,000. If you pass the third and fourth rounds of interviews, you can get a lump sum of HK$100,000. Each round has 6 months to prepare.
In addition, if the applicant company wins trophies or awards in other competitions during the incubation period, it will receive an additional HK$200,000 in funding after completing four rounds of interviews.
In addition, after the incubation period of six months or two years, entrepreneurs will become graduates. Projects that have graduated no more than five years ago can also apply for CASP (Accelerated Support Program), which is specifically designed to help projects expand into international markets, and the application funds can reach up to HK$300,000.
There is also a support program for developing the mainland market, MDSS, with an application fund of up to HK$200,000.
If the project participates in multiple acceleration programs of Cyberport, there will also be a funding program of HK$200,000 available for application.
Therefore, if a project passes all the applications, it can receive a maximum subsidy of HK$1.3 million.
Kong Jianping, director of Hong Kong Cyberport, said in April: "We have just reviewed a batch of projects at Cyberport, and about a dozen Web3 projects can get 500,000 Hong Kong dollars in funding from the incubation program."
On May 24, hardware wallet OneKey announced that it had received a HK$500,000 grant from Hong Kong Cyberport and obtained office space provided by Cyberport.
Company Talent Subsidy Program
The Hong Kong Technology Talent Admission Scheme is to import overseas and mainland technology talents to eligible companies to allow them to come to Hong Kong for research and development work. After the company applies for a quota, it can apply for a work visa for the technology talent within a validity period of 24 months.
Linda told Techub News that the threshold for companies entering Cyberport to apply for talent introduction programs will be much lower. This can help companies recruit foreign employees and facilitate their application for work visas or Hong Kong identities.
In addition, companies that have been approved for the Technology Talent Admission Scheme can continue to apply for the Research Talent Pool Funding Scheme, which aims to subsidize incubated companies and tenants of the Hong Kong Science Park and Hong Kong Cyberport to help them employ research talents for R&D work.
For example, the company will provide 36 months of funding to researchers, with bachelor's degrees receiving HK$18,000 per month, master's degrees receiving HK$21,000 per month, and doctoral degrees receiving HK$32,000 per month.
"If a company that has applied for the CIP program wants to apply for research talent subsidies, it will be relatively easier because the companies that have passed the CIP program have already met the requirements for talent subsidies," said Linda.
He believes that the price of talent in Hong Kong is high and subsidies can only help companies reduce their burden and cannot even cover the costs, so it is unlikely to make money from subsidies.
"For example, theoretically, if a company hires four PhDs, it can get about HK$1.53 million in subsidies per year, and about HK$4.6 million in subsidies for three years. But you have to know that the price of four PhDs in Hong Kong may be more than HK$32,000 per month."
Tips：
1. Filling out the application form in English and choosing English during the roadshow will directly increase your chances of being selected.
2. Please write the correct contact information such as email and phone number on the application form in case you cannot get in touch with us.
3. It is best if the applicant and the person signing the contract are the same person.
4. For companies applying for CIP, at least one person in the team must hold a Hong Kong work visa.
5. The current 4-month waiting period for review will be shortened next year.
6. The roadshow time is only 6 minutes, please talk about the important parts.
Cyberport Ecosystem
Chen Jiahao, co-chairman of the Hong Kong Digital Finance Association and Cyberport resident judge, once shared the judging criteria for Web3 startup projects: first, innovation accounts for 30%, and it depends on whether there are too many similar projects at present; second, applicability accounts for 30%, and whether the project can be implemented and bring value to Hong Kong rather than being unrealistic; third, the self-drive of the project accounts for 30%, and whether the team has been running stably for a period of time; finally, social responsibility accounts for 10%, and whether the project has a sense of social responsibility.
Chen Jiahao said that Web3 entrepreneurship in Hong Kong will not be affected by mainland policies, and Hong Kong's progress towards becoming a global virtual asset innovation center is a long-term plan.
Yan Diyu, Director of Cyberport’s Financial Technology, believes that Cyberport’s resources and the entire ecosystem will be very helpful for their future development. At the same time, these relatively mature companies will also provide a lot of help to “younger students” and even directly invest in promising projects. For example, Animoca Brands itself has invested in more than 300 Web3 projects. Thus, an industrial ecosystem with endogenous driving force is formed.