City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) Press launched three books in the CityUHK TechVenture Series (the Series) and hosted a book launch seminar during the Hong Kong Book Fair 2024 between 17 and 23 July.

The book launch seminar of the Series, themed “Start It Up with Courage and Guts”, was held on 18 July. Officiating guests at the launch ceremony included Professor Michael Yang Mengsu, Senior Vice-President (Innovation and Enterprise) and Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Biomedical Sciences at CityUHK, Mr Paul Wong Yan-yin, JP, District Officer (Sham Shui Po), Mr Albert Wong Hak-keung, CEO of Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP), and Ms Grace Yu Ho-wun, MH, CityUHK Court member.

In his opening address, Professor Yang said that the theme of the seminar aimed to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to put their ideas into practice, emphasising the importance of having the courage to innovate, try and fail. He expressed his gratitude to the entrepreneurs who participated in the interview for the series for being willing to share their exciting entrepreneurial stories and expertise.

“The entrepreneurial process is a rare life experience,” he said. “I hope more young people will dare to think outside the box, use creativity to transform scientific research results into valuable enterprises, and contribute to the economic development of Hong Kong and the country while addressing global challenges,” he said.

Ms Yu, who also served as an Editorial Committee member for the Series, said that the Series is a combination of innovation and educational thinking. “I hope the book series will help young people understand the prerequisites for entrepreneurship, learn how to seek support and resources, step out of their comfort zone, seize entrepreneurial opportunities, and achieve their aspirations,” she said.

CityUHK Press invited several start-up founders and experts with deep knowledge of the start-up ecosystem to be seminar speakers, sharing their entrepreneurial journey and observations of the start-up system. The speakers included Dr Martin Zhu Yihao, Co-founder and CEO of i2Cool Limited, a start-up that was incubated by CityUHK’s large-scale flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme HK Tech 300 and received support and funding from CityUHK and different sectors, Mr Steven Lam, Co-Founder & CEO of logistics unicorn GoGoX, Mr Chibo Tang, Managing Partner of Gobi, Mr Edmund Chan Ka-yeung, Director of CityUHK Press, and Mr Derek Chim, Head of Incubation and Acceleration Programmes at HKSTP.

Dr Zhu, a School of Energy and Environment graduate of CityUHK, said that i2Cool’s zero-energy, low-cost, highly efficient passive radiative cooling paint, which was inspired by ants in the Sahara Desert, reduces the amount of energy required to cool buildings. He mentioned that since all team members were from the same School at CityUHK and lacked business experience at the beginning of their journey, they were fortunate to receive support from HK Tech 300, which helped them establish business connections and make their inventions more down to earth to respond to market needs.

Mr Chan said that CityUHK Press was excited to connect with different stakeholders in the local start-up ecosystem and learn about their stories by publishing the Series. He believed the key to success is to stick to the belief that all start-up founders share similar characteristics in that they first figure out the problems they hope to solve, and then consider solutions and work with friends who share a common vision and different organisations.

The Series includes three books: (1) Start-ups 101, (2) Innovative Attitude: Insights from 6+ Trailblazing Start-up Founders, and (3) Cultivating Changes in our Community: 300+ Tech Start-ups. Start-ups 101 is an introductory book for aspiring entrepreneurs, which addresses all types of questions related to start-ups, while Innovative Attitude: Insights from 6+ Trailblazing Start-up Founders features interviews with six seasoned start-up founders, sharing their experience and insights.

In 2021, CityUHK launched HK Tech 300, a large-scale flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme, to provide diverse educational and self-enhancement opportunities for young entrepreneurs and to transform CityUHK’s research outcomes and intellectual property into practical applications. Since its launch in 2021, the programme has nurtured over 700 start-up teams, with more than 140 start-ups receiving angel fund investment of up to HK$1 million each to support their development and validate their business models. The book Cultivating Changes in our Community: 300+ Tech Start-ups features interviews with participating start-ups and strategic partners from the HK Tech300 programme.