Yuan Valley: Hong Kong tech start-ups break into mainland Chinese market with help from HKU Business School’s Shenzhen campus
- Yuan Valley centre at new campus provides entrepreneurs financing, marketing and networking support
- Start-ups say the ‘HKU brand’ makes a difference, and they hope to gain a foothold in Greater Bay Area
Hong Kong entrepreneur Terry Lam Wa-kit recalls that he had no clue how to reach out to mainland Chinese companies to tell them about a new green product from his company.
The 39-year-old director and co-founder of Envicome, a Singapore-based start-up, said he received the cold shoulder when he tried to approach prospective clients last year in the hope of breaking into the massive mainland market.
His company’s environmentally friendly product, Envi-Gel, was an insulation coating material made from recycled plastic bottles.
Describing what he learned from failing to connect with mainland businesses, he said: “No matter how good your product is, if nobody knows you, they don’t trust you.”
Things changed dramatically after his firm joined Yuan Valley, a networking base for entrepreneurs set up at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Business School-Shenzhen Campus which opened last November.
