Only a third of startups embrace accelerators

Firms may be failing to exhaust all available support options.

Only a third (30%) of Hong Kong startup founders have enlisted the help of accelerator and incubator programmes to jumpstart their growth and improve their product, according to a survey by KPMG China and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. 

The city is home to several such programmes which may take an equity stake in exchange for grooming early stage-companies. including DBS Accelerator, Fintech Innovation Lab, SuperCharger, Zeroth.ai, Cyberport Incubation Programme and Entrepreneur First.

However, the dismal take up figures suggest that startups in Hong Kong are not fully capitalising on the wide range of support systems being provided by the government and private sector.

“[T]here is a risk that many entrepreneurs in Hong Kong are foregoing an important source of ideas that could help accelerate the growth and scale of their businesses,” KPMG said in its report.

Also read: Hong Kong's startup growth hit by weak Greater Bay Area links

Similarly, only 10% of Hong Kong startups use mentors regularly whilst 15% have tapped on the available R&D and legal support resources to scale their businesses.

Only a third (30%) are also embracing the flexible workspace arrangement embodied by co-working spaces despite the proliferation of such spaces in the city.