Integrated with the HKSTP IDEATION Programme to accelerate growth for early-stage startups

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 24 November 2022 - Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) today jointly launched the "Idea Launcher" co-ideation initiative to foster and accelerate innovation and technology (I&T) development in Hong Kong through extensive support, mentoring and coaching to help early-stage startups nurture innovative ideas and research projects.

This is another strategic addition to HKTSP's co-incubation mission with sector leaders, with the HKSTP-AWS Idea Launcher being the first partnership with a corporate leader under HKSTP's IDEATION Programme. AWS will work hand-in-hand with HKSTP to specifically support the development of early-stage ideas from emerging startups and next-generation entrepreneurs.

This latest initiative continues the strategic collaboration that AWS and HKSTP began earlier this year, covering the four key pillars of: Research & Development, Technology Simulation, Co-incubation, and Talent and Culture Cultivation. The Idea Launcher is a six-month co-ideation initiative that provides early-stage startups and entrepreneurs with technical training, business consulting, capabilities' assessment as well as project feasibility in order to optimise startup solutions and concepts.

HKSTP will offer HK$100,000 in seed funding and incubation training to selected startups, while AWS will provide tailor-made AWS innovation culture workshops to help startups build up their innovation capacity. Programme participants will also receive up to US$25,000 in AWS cloud resources, as well as technical support and training through the "AWS Activate" Program, set up especially to help startups optimise their business models and fuel future development.

"Hong Kong's thriving startup ecosystem is emerging as a driving force for the city's economy," said Chris So, Head of Business Development, Hong Kong and Macau, AWS. "Building upon Amazon's and AWS' experience and years of serving startup companies, we hope to provide the critical support and resources requited by startup ventures across all stages of growth. With our established startup ecosystems and investment development teams in Hong Kong and beyond, we gather talent with investment institution backgrounds and entrepreneurial experience that is geared to supporting startups throughout their growth cycle. We look forward to deepening our partnership with HKSTP to advance local startups and propel Hong Kong on its journey to international I&T hub status."

Eugene Hsia, Chief Corporate Development Officer, HKSTP, said: "Hong Kong is a land of opportunities. The seeds of entrepreneurship have always been deeply rooted in the minds of its people. We are thrilled to see the city's appetite for entrepreneurship reach a record level and our vibrant I&T ecosystem growing at full speed. New ideas shoot up every day at our Park, and we are humbled to drive Hong Kong's transformation by building its largest innovation ecosystem. By partnering with AWS, one of the world's largest and most iconic startups, we are ready to elevate Hong Kong's talented entrepreneurs onto the global stage."

HKSTP launched the IDEATION programme in 2019, furthering its support for early-stage research and development projects and innovative ideas. Well received in the startup community, the number of participating members and teams in the programme has more than tripled from 60 to over 230.

For further information on Idea Launcher, please visit here.

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About Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) has for 20 years committed to building up Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub to propel success for local and global pioneers today and tomorrow. HKSTP has established a thriving I&T ecosystem that is home to three unicorns and Hong Kong's leading R&D hub with over 12,000 research professionals and over 1,100 technology companies focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.

Established in 2001, we attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation and technology for entrepreneurs on their journey of growth in Hong Kong, to the Greater Bay Area, Asia and beyond. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern INNOPARKs in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three INNOPARKs are realising a vision of re-industrialisation for Hong Kong. The goal is sectors like advanced manufacturing, electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined for a new generation of industry.

Through our infrastructure, services, expertise and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish innovation and technology as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong, while reinforcing Hong Kong's international I&T hub status as a launchpad for global growth at the heart of the GBA innovation powerhouse.

More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org.

About Amazon Web Services

For over 15 years, Amazon Web Services has been the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offering. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any cloud workload, and it now has more than 200 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 96 Availability Zones within 30 geographic regions, with announced plans for 15 more Availability Zones and five more AWS Regions in Australia, Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and Thailand. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.

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