Saltagen Ventures Hosts Hong Kong Trip
Attendees include Dr. Chen Fong, Christopher Bissonnette and Dougal Martin
On January 21st, Saltagen Ventures had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Chen Fong (Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary, CDL West Fellow and Saltagen Ventures advisor) Christopher Bissonnette (Founding Partner of CDL West and Managing Partner of Pallasite Ventures) and Dougal Martin (Director of Communications at Pool Global Partners) on a trip to Hong Kong to explore Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem.
The trip began with a stop at the 2019 Healthtech O2O Summit, where various members of Asia’s healthtech ecosystem met to explore and support the latest innovations in healthcare and medtech. The next stop on the list was lunch with Shenzhen Valley Ventures, an engineering firm and hardware investor that helps startups with the manufacturing endeavours. In keeping with the manufacturing theme, our visitors stopped by Brinc, a hardware accelerator with manufacturing services; by the end of the trip, our visitors appreciated how much focus and attention the Hong Kong startup ecosystem pays to building a strong, viable piece of technology as early in the iteration process as possible — one of the many strengths of the Hong Kong ecosystem.
The next day was busier than the day before, beginning with visiting the Entrepreneur Center and School of Biomedical Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where they had a chance to check out their state-of-the-art lab and equipment geared towards biomedical projects. After the visit, they had a meeting with Medical Device Association Chairwoman, Martha Hao, and a tour of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP) Healthcare Device Hub. They discussed the abundance of resources available for global startups in Hong Kong, including the MDA which supports startups at every stage, from manufacturing to distribution, and even certifications.
Lunch was then enjoyed with more members of the Medical Device Association and the Biomedical Technology Cluster at HKSTP. Next, our visitors met with Peter Mok (Head of Incubation at HKSTP), followed by a tour of the Arrow Lab, a facility that offers access to high-end electronic equipment to startups. This visit included a stellar presentation on the incubator and accelerator programs available through HKSTP — known for being Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem hub. They wrapped up with a tour of Wise Ally which provides one-stop solutions to start-up / global companies with sophisticated technical and quality requirements and a quick meet & greet with various medtech startups including Imsight, a rising star in the medtech field.
The trip concluded with a dinner with the Canadian Consul General of Canada in Hong Kong, Jeff Nankivell, and various other prominent Hong Kong investors. At the dinner, our visitors were ecstatic to have discovered how many resources and support systems are available for Canadian startups to arrive and thrive in the Asian market through Hong Kong. We are thrilled that Dr. Chen Fong, Mr. Bissonnette and Mr. Martin had the chance to see what Hong Kong can offer Canadian startups! Come back soon!
