2018’s over, and HK Startups rocked it!

Celebrating new unicorns, global startup records & more

Samantha Lee

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Published in

WHub

6 min readDec 27, 2018

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Hong Kong startups have been on the rise in the Asia scene and on a global scale, and 2018 was definitely a solid year for us.

With 2 new unicorns, global fundraising record, startup influencers’ awards, as well as other achievements, Hong Kong is making a name for itself. Besides local startup milestones, Hong Kong’s status as a startup hub has attracted a lot of big players into Hong Kong to take advantage of this high fertile breeding grounds.

As WHub produces a weekly newsletter with Startup News Roundups called 5 in 5 Minutes(sign up for them here), as well as curates Hong Kong Startup Ecosystem and FinTech Ecosystem Whitepapers (soon to release the most updated version) every year, we’re here to give you the ultimate recap of some of the biggest achievements in the startup space this 2018! As we have quite a lot of achievements to cover, we’ve linked it most of them to the original article for your convenience if you want to find out more.

Many of the heavyweight startups mentioned will be involved at Startup Impact Summit, the startup conference that WHub is organizing with InvestHK during the StartmeupHK Festival on 25 January 2019.

Meet the champions, get tickets before they’re sold out: https://whub.io/s/46hQsBM

Unicorns Unlocked

Klook

In August when they raised US$300 Million, led by Sequoia Capital China and Goldman Sachs, they were elevated to unicorn status. By August, they were estimated to have close to US$1 Billion in bookings. Klook is a leading travel activity and services booking platform.

TNG Wallet

With the announcement of IPO plans of US$300 Million in July 2019, and the acquisition of Tranglo, WHub has privately reached out to confirm that TNG Wallet has officially been confirmed as a unicorn. TNG Wallet is an e-wallet platform with financial services including e-payments, global remittance, global cash withdrawal and settlement, wealth management and more.

There will be a unicorn panel at Startup Impact Summit! Confirmed speakers include TNG Wallet and LaLaMove, and more are yet to come! Grab your tickets to hear their sharing, learnings and advice: https://whub.io/s/46hQsBM

Fundraising Milestones

Block.one

Block.one has raised the largest ICO in the world, a record-breaking US$4 Billion, more than doubling the 2nd place — Telegram’s US$1.7 Billion. Block.one is a software publisher specializing in high-performance blockchain technologies. Its first project, EOSIO, is an open-source blockchain protocol designed to enable secure data transfer and high-performance decentralized applications.

SenseTime

Raising US$620 Million in June, which pushed their valuation about 50% higher within 3 months from US$3 Million, SenseTime is now the world’s most valuable AI startup. SenseTime is China’s largest AI algorithm provider, with a deep learning platform, supercomputing centers, and a range of AI technologies such as face recognition.

Influencer Recognition

Simon Loong — WeLab

WeLab founder and CEO, Simone Loong, was awarded the World Outstanding Chinese Youth Entrepreneur Award by the World Chinese Business Investment Foundation. WeLab is a mobile lending platform that operates WeLend in Hong Kong, Wolaidai in Mainland China.

Bay McLaughlin — Brinc.io

Co-Founder and COO of Brinc, By McLaughlin, won the IoT World Asia “People’s Choice Award” 2018 in recognition of his contributions to IoT development in Asia Pacific. Brinc is a hardware, IoT, drone, and food accelerator with a global presence.

Karen Contet Farzam —AngelHub & WHub

Karen Contet Farzam, AngelHub founder & CEO, WHub founder & Chief Hustler, Founding board member of FinTech Association Hong Kong, is listed in the 30 Most Inspirational Business Leaders to Watch 2018 by Insightssuccess as “A Leader Crafting Leaders”. AngelHub is Hong Kong’s first license crowdfunding platform, and WHub is Hong Kong’s largest startup ecosystem builder.

Other Achievements

Bitmex

Bitmex, one of Hong Kong’s fintech unicorn, rents most expensive office in Hong Kong, right next to the SFC, with a monthly rent of US$600,000. They have rented the entire 45th floor of the Cheung Kong Center. Bitmex is one of the world’s leading trading platform for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

SenseTime

SenseTime has been hand-picked by Beijing to power China’s ambition to be a global tech leader. It is the 5th national Chinese AI platform, along with Baidu, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent and iFLYTEK.

New Accelerators/Programs/Facilitators Launched

(This will be arranged according to chronology)

WHub Highlights

There is no doubt that 2018 was a BIG year for WHub! While we celebrate the growth in the local Startup Community, we’d like to give a short recap of all our achievements and highlights as well.

Hosted the Unconference, an interactive gathering on topics like big data, blockchain, machine learning, digital marketing, rapid prototyping and more, on February 1 during StartmeupHK Festival 2018
Hosted the HK Tech & Startups Job Fair #9 on February 2 during StartmeupHK Festival 2018
Organized the Start-ups meet Talent Job Fair #10 in May during HKTDC’s E-day
Published the Hong Kong Startup Ecosystem Toolbox v.4
Hosts of the HK Tech Meetup in Hong Kong
Represented the Hong Kong Startup Scene and “tech community” at “HKMA’s Bank Account Opening & Maintenance” session
Launched in India, to facilitate Indian startups & Hong Kong startups to generate win-win collaborations and synergies
Facilitated the launch of AngelHub, a sister company of WHub, and Hong Kong’s first licensed equity crowdfunding platform

Excited for 2019

WHub has so many surprises lined up for 2019!

Come celebrate the new year with the Startup Community! We’re organizing a New Year Party at Campfire Causeway Bay with Campfire, Zegal, The Kommon Goods, AngelHub, Peroni and Foodie! Come join the party! Get your tickets here: https://whub.io/s/NewYearParty

We can’t wait to show you everything we’ve got planned, but to kickstart your new year with Startup-ful energy, why not access world-class leaders, network with international startups, and discover hacks to become the best entrepreneur in your field at Startup Impact Summit! Grab a friend, grab your tickets now: https://whub.io/s/46hQsBM