First Elevator World Tour Event in Asia to be held at Hong Kong's Tallest Building

(Montreal and Hong Kong, 29 August 2016) - Startupfest, Canada’s leading Startup event organiser, in partnership with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (“HKSTP”), today announced that they will stage the Asia’s leg of Elevator World Tour™ in Hong Kong on October 13th at the city’s tallest building International Commerce Centre (“ICC”). 

One hundred of the region’s most promising startups will pitch a panel of investors and experts inside the elevator of ICC. In the 60 second’s elevator ride, the contestants need to convince and engage the judges compellingly so as to get a place in the top 10 finalists who will proceed to the last session of the event where 10 would-be angel investors will listen to their stories one more time before deciding to whom they will invest US$100,000.

Elevator World Tour™ is a well-known worldwide start-up contest that runs literal elevator pitches in some of the world’s most iconic buildings. So far three cities have hosted this renowned event in their landmark architecture including Toronto’s CN tower, the Azrieli Tower in Tel Aviv and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Hong Kong is chosen as the only stop in Asia to host this unique start-up event, with upcoming events in Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Berlin, Dubai and Santiago.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with HKSTP to host the Asia leg of Elevator World Tour™ in Hong Kong,” said Phil Telio, the event’s founder. “It’s a reminder that the city has a long tradition of entrepreneur spirit, and that the world’s greatest companies start with a great idea and an unstoppable founder.”

“We at HKSTP endeavor to assist start-ups to move their ideas from drawing boards to markets. In today’s increasingly crowded start-up scene, acquiring the skill to convince potential investor is fundamental and learning to tell your story in a compelling way becomes indispensable. We are proud to bring this prestigious event to Hong Kong as we believe the entrepreneurs in the region will benefit greatly from this event,” said Albert Wong, Chief Executive Officer of HKSTP.

Enrolment to the contest has just started and will be closed on September 13th. Start-ups with less than 5 years’ of establishment can apply to pitch at https://hkstp.wufoo.com/forms/qqvo6ft0dwpu1t/. The event will take place from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM on October 13th, on the 100th floor of the ICC – Sky 100. The list of 100 aspiring startups qualified for the contest will be announced on www.apacinnosummit.net/EWT/#startups.

Overseas judges so far include Jamie O’Hara of Grise Global Groupe and Philippe Telio of Startupfest , while local judges are Carman Chan of Click Ventures, Patrick Albert of GNAC Sàrl, Samson Tam of Hong Kong Business Angel Network, Alfred Lin of SpeedPixel Venture and Gordon Yen of Radiant Venture Capital Ltd. More will be named shortly.

More information about the Elevator World TourTM Hong Kong is available at www.apacinnosummit.net/EWT/.