The HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2023, organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and supported by the Group, has been held. This was our fifth consecutive year of partnership, and attracted a record-breaking 234 teams formed by HKUST faculties, students and alumni, strengthening Hong Kong’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Champion (Platinum Award) and GF Innovation Award winner Allegrow developed a new artificial cell cultivation technology. Allegrow’s new technology can optimise the production process of immune cells and reduce production costs by up to 48 per cent compared to current methods, while saving up to 33 per cent (per product) of production time. The technology will greatly boost production efficiency, reduce patients’ waiting time and medical expenses for future treatments, shorten the R&D period of immune cell therapy and make cell therapy more accessible to the public.
A new category, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), was introduced, with the Sustainability Impact Award given out to encourage using innovative and diverse ideas to promote sustainable development. Nearly 80 per cent of the 200-plus entries featured ESG elements.
The three winning teams were Daoad, which utilises various rice-based biomaterials to create high-quality and sustainable creative products; Salvaged Limited, which recycles second-hand clothing and created a sustainable second-hand fashion reselling platform; and Not Only Powder, which also won the Gold Award, for their efforts in promoting sustainable development.
