If you are building a startup in Hong Kong, your first source of support may be closer than you think.
Updated
August 10, 2026 5:56 PM
Main Building of the University of Hong Kong. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Across Hong Kong’s public universities, entrepreneurship is now part of the campus ecosystem. Many universities offer startup funding, mentorship, training, workspace, investor access and pathways into larger incubation programmes such as Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP) and Cyberport.
For student founders, researchers and alumni, this can be a useful place to begin. You may be able to test an idea, build a prototype, form a company or apply for early funding through your own university before looking for external investors.
The challenge is knowing where to start. Each university has its own startup programmes, eligibility rules and funding structure. Some are designed for student ideas. Others are built for research commercialization, deep tech ventures or startups already preparing to raise investment. Below is a practical guide to startup support and university startup funding at five major publicly funded universities in Hong Kong.
HKU offers a wide range of entrepreneurship support through HKU Techno-Entrepreneurship Core, also known as HKU TEC. Its programmes cover early ideas, deep tech projects, Greater Bay Area (GBA) expansion, research commercialization and investor matching.
HKU is especially relevant for founders working with university research, intellectual property or technology-led business ideas. It also has entry-level support for students and graduates who are still testing an idea.
Best fit: HKU works well for student founders, researchers and alumni who want a structured route from idea stage to technology commercialization.
CityUHK’s main startup platform is HK Tech 300. It is one of the clearest university startup pathways in Hong Kong because it is built in stages: training, seed funding, angel investment and access to external funding.
The programme is open to CityUHK students, alumni, research staff and members of the public using CityUHK intellectual property or technology.
Best fit: CityUHK is a strong choice for founders who want a step-by-step startup journey with clear funding stages.
HKUST has a broad startup ecosystem with support for students, alumni, researchers and faculty. Its entrepreneurship pathway covers idea exploration, prototyping, MVP testing, research commercialization and investment.
The university’s startup support is especially strong for technology companies, deep tech projects and teams commercialising HKUST research.
Best fit: HKUST is especially useful for tech startups, deep tech teams and founders who need a route from prototype to commercialization.
PolyU’s startup support is practical and product-focused. Its programmes cover early ideas, seed-stage teams, Greater Bay Area expansion, translational research and investment.
This makes PolyU a good fit for founders working on engineering, hardware, applied technology, social impact or commercialization of university research.
Best fit: PolyU is well suited for product-led startups, applied technology projects, GBA expansion and founders who want industry-facing support.
CUHK offers support for student founders, researchers and alumni through the Pi Centre and the Knowledge Transfer Office. Its ecosystem covers pre-incubation, TSSSU funding, early translational research, social impact projects and Greater Bay Area entrepreneurship.
CUHK is especially useful for students who want to start with an idea and later move into funding, mentorship or external incubation.
Best fit: CUHK is a good starting point for student founders who need pre-incubation support, and for researchers moving early-stage ideas toward commercial use.
There is no single best programme for every founder. The right choice depends on your stage, your university connection and the type of startup you are building.
Hong Kong’s university startup ecosystem is bigger than many founders realize. If you are a student, alumnus, researcher or university-linked founder, your campus may already offer a route into funding, mentorship, workspace and incubation.
The key is to choose a programme that matches your current stage. Some founders should start with idea validation. Others may be ready for seed funding, TSSSU support or investment.
Before applying, check the latest deadline and eligibility rules on the official university page. These programmes change often, and some funding rounds open only once or twice a year.
Keep Reading
Discus Fish of Cobo and Samuel Tse of Animoca Brands discuss how AI agents, digital identity and blockchain could change the way money moves.
Updated
November 2, 2026 12:03 PM
The Agentic Economy Summit at CVCF 2026 explores how AI agents and digital assets could shape the future of business and finance. IMAGE: CYBERPORT
For an AI agent to manage money on someone’s behalf, it needs more than the ability to follow instructions. It must be able to establish whom it represents, access funds and transact within agreed limits.
These are among the questions informing the discussion of AI and digital assets at Cyberport Venture Capital Forum (CVCF) 2026. Ahead of the forum, Discus Fish, CEO and Co-founder of Cobo, and Samuel Tse, Head of Investment and Corporate Finance at Animoca Brands, shared their views on how this convergence could develop—and where they see opportunities for businesses.
Discus Fish points to a longstanding challenge: blockchain can be difficult for everyday users to navigate, but AI agents may find it easier to interact with these networks.
“Blockchains have always been hard for ordinary people to use. AI agents may be better users: the chain is fully transparent and every record is traceable, which suits agents well.”
His outlook comes with a qualification. Both the agents and the networks they would use still need to develop.
“Agents aren’t capable enough yet, and chains are still adapting. But once agents truly run on-chain, the number of users and what’s possible will grow by an order of magnitude.”
Discus Fish says blockchain could reshape how financial assets are issued, traded and settled over the next five years. He also notes that institutional adoption has progressed faster than Cobo initially expected, with individual users no longer leading the shift. “Since 2017, we have believed blockchain will become part of the financial infrastructure of the future. We expected individual users to lead, but institutions moved faster.”
For Fish, the next stage involves a broader range of assets and financial clients.
“What gets redefined next is how assets are issued, traded, and settled. As traditional assets like US equities come on-chain, a much wider range of financial clients will follow.”
Samuel Tse, Head of Investment and Corporate Finance at Animoca Brands, focuses on investment opportunities across digital assets and agentic AI. He sees digital identity as essential to allowing AI agents to act on behalf of people while keeping transactions within the permissions they set.
He believes users should set clear rules for what an AI agent can do, allowing it to complete transactions without requiring approval for each one.
“Once agents can prove who they represent, hold digital assets, and move value under clear rules, the economy stops being click-by-click. You set the policy once—who, how much, for what—and the agent transacts inside it.”
He describes applications ranging from everyday payments and transfers to subscriptions, swaps and earning returns on idle funds. “That’s agentic transactions: payments, transfers, subscriptions, swaps, even chasing a better rate on idle cash. Identity is the trust layer. Assets and credentials are the spending authority—always accountable to the human who granted permission.”
In Tse’s account, the human remains the source of that authority. The agent acts within the permissions granted to it.
To illustrate how AI agents, digital identity and digital assets might work together, Tse offers a hypothetical Hong Kong parent's weekday.
“A Hong Kong parent’s weekday: top up the child’s Octopus, book a weekend football slot, translate a school notice for the helper, check weather before pickup, restock milk at the member price, and keep leftover budget earning until tomorrow.”
At present, he says, completing these tasks requires navigating services that often operate separately.
“Today that means many apps that don't talk to each other, and rails that struggle with micro payments.”
His proposed alternative brings the tasks together under instructions established by the user.
“With an agent, they set the rules once and let it decide what to do. Identity unlocks trust and member prices without oversharing. Digital assets fit the money—per-use fees, hard limits, yield until spend.”
For Tse, this combination could create opportunities across payments, merchants, identity providers and digital-asset platforms. He compares the potential scale of agentic commerce to an earlier change in how consumers accessed services.
“The iPhone in 2007 rewired how people buy and use services for 20 years. We are just at the beginning of a similar paradigm shift, with outcomes we can barely imagine.”
Discus Fish and Samuel Tse offer two perspectives on the emerging agentic economy, from the blockchain infrastructure enabling transactions to the digital identity and permissions that allow AI agents to act on people's behalf. At CVCF 2026, these ideas will become part of a wider conversation with the leaders building and investing in this evolving space.
Be part of the conversation. Join industry leaders, founders and investors at CVCF 2026 on 4–5 November and explore the technologies and opportunities shaping the next phase of business.
Exclusive for Ventureport readers: Use code cvcf26vp to access a Full Access Pass for HK$300, subject to confirmation by the organiser.