Three winning teams from HKU awarded seed funding under the Cyberport University
Partnership Programme (CUPP) to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true
Three teams from the University of Hong Kong were winners in the 5th Cyberport University Partnership Programme (CUPP). Each received a HK$100,000 award under the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund to realize their great ideas. They are also given interview opportunities for the Cyberport Incubation Programme.
A total of eighteen teams with a total of fifty-eight local university students were shortlisted by CUPP to present their projects at the Demo Day held at Cyberport in October. Thirteen teams were selected for the funding award and interview opportunities.
The HKU teams made use of the entrepreneurship skills and technological knowledge learnt from the training sessions in Hong Kong and boot camp at University of Chicago to develop innovative business plans.
The HKU winning teams and their projects:
1. TradeArmour
It revolutionizes financing and large sum payment transactions for services and products, like Trade financing.
TradeArmour seeks to replace the traditional, inefficient Letter of Credit and enable seamless payment-to-service/product. It provides AI-assisted service project/product contract drafting, credit and debit escrow payment with shipment integration leveraging blockchain technology, and trade assurance services to ensure all trade parties are secured, protected, and receives money/services/products as efficient, dispute-free as possible.
2. ZOOMIN
A proprietary mobile application that contributes to the reduction of waste at source, through gamifying our consumption journey and rewarding sustainable consumption.
The word ZOOMIN has a twofold meaning, “ZOO” stands for Bio-Diversity, while “MIN” stands for Minimal-Waste. The name itself captures the determination to make a positive impact to our society and community. With over six months of research, data collection and market analysis, the team examines the current retail consumption pattern and analyzes the future trends that will minimize packaging waste to promote sustainable consumption.
Because of the challenges brought about by the environmental pollution, namely the worsening climate change, the waste reduction at source model has drawn attention from consumers and producers across many reputable retail brands. The ZOOMIN mobile app has three significant characteristics “Reward Mechanism”, “Gamified Experience” and “Real-Time Footprint” that help track an omnichannel, sustainable consumption journey from start to end.
3. IdentifEye
Research suggests that nano degrees and online courses offer a competitive edge to candidates by equipping them with practical skills. Nevertheless, the cost of such courses ranges from USD100 to USD200. This figure, what may seem like a petty expenditure in the developed parts of the world, is unaffordable for most in the developing countries. In developing countries, such as India, Philippines and Thailand, where the median salary can be as low as USD200, pursuing such nano degrees might be a far- fetched goal for students. The team envision to eradicate status quo that exists in the recruitment process and create an avenue that offers a level playing field for student’s educational and career progression. By marrying the interest of companies, students and universities, the team aim to offer micro-credit services to students to take up online courses that can pave their path towards securing an offer from their dream company.
This is why the team created “IdentifEye”, a solution that would structure finances provided by companies, who aim to offer fair recruitment avenue, into micro-credit services for low-income students.
Technology Transfer Office and iDendron coordinated with Cyberport to encourage our HKU students to combine their entrepreneurship ideas with technological knowledge to produce innovative and impactful projects.