Unicorns Spotlight Hi-Tech Entrepreneurship

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A Cradle of Innovation

Unicorns Spotlight Hi-Tech Entrepreneurship

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The entrepreneurship success of the School of Engineering (SENG) members was recognized with six out of 18 start-ups in the “Unicorns HK 2021” shortlist being founded or co-founded by SENG faculty or alumni.
The entrepreneurship success of the School of Engineering (SENG) members was recognized with six out of 18 start-ups in the “Unicorns HK 2021” shortlist being founded or co-founded by SENG faculty or alumni. [Download Photo]
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In the inaugural “Unicorns HK 2021” shortlist, announced by the Hong Kong X Foundation, six out of 18 companies were founded or co-founded by faculty or alumni from the School of Engineering.

As unicorns, the 18 unlisted start-ups each have a market value of more than US$1 billion. All the companies were also founded, or incubated/headquartered in Hong Kong, or the founders were Hong Kong residents. Those related to HKUST (see table) focus on AI, robotics, high-end manufacturing, sensors, and autonomous driving.

The unicorns’ shortlist was released at the Inno Bay 2021 program, organized by the Foundation and China Global Television Network in November 2021. The event gathered policymakers, entrepreneurs, and technology experts to discuss the further development of innovation and technology in the Greater Bay Area. Prominent speakers included Mrs. Carrie LAM, Chief Executive of the HKSAR Government, and Mr. LEUNG Chun-Ying, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The Hong Kong X Foundation was established by Sequoia Capital China, a venture capital fund, in 2016 to foster entrepreneurial culture and support young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong.

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Start-up*

 

 

HKUST Member(s)

 

 

Position in Unicorn

 

 

4Paradigm

Platform-centric solutions for enterprise-class

AI products

 

DAI Wenyuan

Alumnus

Computer Science and Engineering (PhD)

 

 

Founder and CEO

 

 

Prof. YANG Qiang

Faculty

Computer Science and Engineering

 

 

Co-founder

 

 

CiDi

Smart automotive driving for

commercial vehicles and logistics modeling

 

 

Prof. LI Zexiang

Faculty

Electronic and Computer Engineering

 

 

Co-founder

 

 

DJI

Global consumer drones and

aerial imaging technology

 

 

Frank WANG Tao

Alumnus

Electronic and Computer Engineering (MPhil & BEng)

 

 

Founder, CEO,

and CTO

 

 

Googol Technology

Innovative motion controls

for manufacturing automation

 

 

Prof. LI Zexiang

Faculty

Electronic and Computer Engineering

 

 

Co-founder

and Chairman

 

 

SmartMore

Computer vision technology for

intelligent manufacturing and

video-enhancement services

 

 

JIA Jiaya

Alumnus

Computer Science and Engineering (PhD)

 

 

Founder

and Chairman

 

 

SmartSens Technology

High-performance CMOS

image sensor chip design

 

 

XU Chen

Alumnus

Electronic and Computer Engineering (PhD & MPhil)

 

 

Founder

and CEO

 

* The other companies on the Unicorns HK 2021 shortlist were: AfterShip, Airwallex, EcoFlow, Geek+, GeneHarbor, GOGOX, Hai Robotics, Insilico Medicine, KLOOK, Lalamove, SenseTime, and WeLab Bank.

 

This story was originally published in the SENG In Focus magazine (Spring 2022 edition, issue 34, P.8).

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