Hong Kong will become more aggressive in attracting investors who can help nurture startups as it aims to diversify its economy and boost its innovation and technology (I&T) sector, the Post reported.
Sources told The Post that city leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced in his policy speech on Wednesday that he would invest in the HK$2 billion (US$257.4 million) Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF). ) will announce changes to its operating methods.
Experts said one option is for the government to stop directly investing in startups and instead funnel money into venture capital funds, an approach favored by some local governments in mainland China. .
Established in 2017, ITVF aims to attract venture capital funds to co-invest in local I&T startups. The venture capital fund will be responsible for recommending suitable startups to the government, and the recommendation amount will be approximately double the investment amount of the joint partners.
Currently, 20 venture capital funds are working as co-investment partners.
According to official data, ITVF injected capital into 53 investment projects from April 2019 to September this year, and separately invested about HK$302 million in 37 local I&T startups. These projects and startups, covering areas such as supply chain management, e-commerce, financial technology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, attracted more than HK$2.7 billion in private investment.
