Hong Kong X Technology Fund was established to support participants in an accelerator co-founded by professors from HKUST and University of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong X Technology Fund, an investment vehicle linked to professors from University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), today revealed its first six investees.
The fund backs companies participating in its parent accelerator, Hong Kong X-Tech Startup Platform, co-founded by Zexiang Li and Guanhua Chen, professors at HKUST and University of Hong Kong respectively, with Neil Shen, managing partner of Sequoia Capital China.
Hong Kong X-Tech Startup Platform was formed to nurture the local entrepreneurial culture and provide impetus for technological innovation through measures including funding, mentoring and community building.
The accelerator focuses on industries including robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, pharmaceuticals, medical services, electronics and fintech.
The six investees, all of which have joined the accelerator, were named as immuno-oncology treatment developer Bacmuno, programmable technology supplier Efinix, data centre technology developer eTopus Technology, antimicrobial vaccine producer PreciVax, insurance insights platform Seasonalife and imaging sensor company SmartSens.
Seasonalife was co-founded by two graduates from University of Waterloo, Fred Ngan and Michael Chan and had previously received commitments of undisclosed size from unnamed investors.
Efinix disclosed a $9.5m round co-led by Hong Kong X Technology Fund and chipmaker Xilinx in September 2017, with contributions from Samsung Ventures, corporate venturing arm of electronics producer Samsung, Hong Kong Inno Capital and Brizan Investments.
The company also raised $250,000 in a 2015 convertible debt financing, according to a regulatory filing, and counts Malaysia Venture Capital Management and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia among its investors.
ETopus obtained an undisclosed sum in a 2016 round led by SK Telecom Americas (SKTA), the corporate venturing arm of wireless telecoms firm SK Telecom, and backed by undisclosed strategic investors. The company is a graduate from SKTA’s Innovation Accelerator.
