The company will travel to China to compete in the world final later this year.
Hong Kong, July 20, 2016 – Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, hosted the Hong Kong session of Create@Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest (CACSC) today at Hong Kong Science Park, in cooperation with HKSTP (Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation), CoCoon and Paperclip HK. Ten local startups were selected to compete as finalists in the Hong Kong leg of the competition, with other events held in cities around the world including Paris and London. PowerMew Technology Limited was the stand out competitor during the event and took home the top prize. It will now go on to represent Hong Kong at the world final in Hangzhou, China in October 2016 to compete with contestants from other markets including Southeast Asia, Korea, Middle East and Europe.
“Alibaba Cloud believes in championing medium and small businesses and we encourage startups to embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. CACSC aims to identify the most promising and innovative startups in the world, and to give them a platform to grow and succeed. We are happy to see PowerMew Technology winning the championship in Hong Kong with its forward-thinking and creative ideas leveraging the cloud technology inspired by Alibaba Cloud. We look forward PowerMew Technology participating in the world final and competing with champions from other regions,” said Leo Liu, Business Development Director at Greater China of Alibaba Cloud International.
PowerMew Technology, an online property searching platform in the real estate industry, has been leveraging advanced VR technology to connect proprietors, buyers, tenants and estate agents. By virtue of the cloud computing technology, they allow customers to access social networking service seamlessly for the real estate brokerage anywhere from any smart device.
By winning the championship of the Hong Kong session, PowerMew Technology will receive Alibaba Cloud’s funding for investments into IT infrastructure for the first year, technology training for professionals, tailor-made IT solutions designed by Alibaba Cloud’s architects and one-on-one post-sales support. In addition, winner will receive free office space from CoCoon, and free membership of Paperclip HK.
“We are excited and honored to be crowned champion of the Hong Kong leg of CACSC. It is a significant stepping stone for us, and will help us take our ideas to a global market with the support of Alibaba Cloud. With the cloud capabilities provided by Alibaba Cloud, we are confident that we can strengthen our business and bring our innovations to other markets,” said Sophie Lo and Eddie Chan, Co-founders of PowerMew Technology.
The Hong Kong event judging panel included Leo Liu, Business Development Director at Greater China of Alibaba Cloud International; Cindy Chow, Executive Director of HK Entrepreneurs Fund; Peter Mok, Head of Incubation Programme of HKSTP; and Roland Yau, Managing Partner of CoCoon Ignite Ventures. The competition, which comprises of onsite presentation and Q&A with judges, evaluated the contestants based on the qualification of the founder team, the level of innovation they demonstrated, the market competitiveness and the potential to scale of their business models, and their presentation skills.
Mr. Allen MA Kam-sing, Chief Executive Officer of HKSTP said, “We are delighted to partner with Alibaba Cloud on this meaningful initiative, which provides Hong Kong’s inspiring entrepreneurs with leading technology support and access to abundant resources through Alibaba Cloud’s global network. We look forward to seeing more Hong Kong start-ups thrive and grow their global footprints through this program.”
“CoCoon Ignite Ventures is happy to have been invited as a judge and supporter of this great event. This is a continuation of our ongoing collaboration with Science Park and Alibaba and we hope events like this show the growing support for Hong Kong entrepreneurs. In particular, we recognize that Alibaba has offered quite a few initiatives to entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, including establishing the Alibaba’s Entrepreneur Fund and offering support for Alibaba’s cloud services, and we look forward to continue working with Alibaba on these important initiatives,” said Mr. Roland Yau, Managing Partner of CoCoon Ignite Ventures.
“We are honored to co-work with Alibaba Cloud to host the Create@Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest—Hong Kong. As a startup campus, we are excited to see this program help build up the startup eco-system in Hong Kong and also grow the startups successfully at a regional and global level,” said Deepak Madnani, Founder and CEO of Paperclip HK.
The CACSC is part of the Alibaba Cloud’s global startup program, Create@Alibaba Cloud, which was first launched in April this year. It aims to champion startups and maximize their potential through Alibaba’s comprehensive support network and innovative suite of cloud infrastructure services.
Alibaba Cloud established its first data center in Hong Kong in May 2014. With the second Hong Kong data centre established in November last year, Alibaba Cloud has further underscored its commitment to address increasing demand for cloud computing resources in the region and its commitment to globalization. In addition, Alibaba Cloud launched traditional Chinese and English websites last year and has accepted Hong Kong bank cards for purchases. At present, its cloud server nodes support Elastic Compute Service (ECS), Relational Database Service (RDS), Object Storage Service (OSS), Server Load Balancer, Cloud Monitoring System, Cloud Shield and other services. Proprietary virtual private cloud (VPC) network services are being planned to meet more sophisticated user requirements.
About Alibaba Cloud
Established in September 2009, Alibaba Cloud (intl.aliyun.com), Alibaba Group’s cloud computing arm, develops highly scalable platforms for cloud computing and data management. It provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to support participants of Alibaba Group’s online and mobile commerce ecosystem, including sellers and other third-party customers and businesses. Alibaba Cloud is a business within Alibaba Group.
About Create@Alibaba Cloud
This is Alibaba Cloud’s first global start-up program, aimed at championing startups and maximizing their potential through Alibaba’s comprehensive support network and innovative suite of cloud infrastructure services. As part of the program, participants will receive funding for investments into IT infrastructure for the first year, technology training for professionals, tailor-made IT solutions designed by Alibaba Cloud’s architects and one-on-one post-sales support, to help the start-ups get their business up to speed and running smoothly. In addition to offering cloud capabilities, Create@Alibaba Cloud also empowers start-ups with better access to overseas markets and potential connections.
To learn more:
https://intl.aliyun.com/startup/events/CACSC2016?spm=a3c0i.7911826.186171.3.c5RVMM
