Hong Kong’s Biggest PropTech Contest – “Green PropTech Innovator Challenge” Gives Young Leaders a Platform to Turn Ideas Into Ventures

Co-organised by Y.X Community and HKPTA, it’s Hong Kong’s biggest proptech competition featuring over 50 guest speakers, POC partners, investors and mentors from globally-renowned multinational companies and offering additional funding to develop pitches even during the semi-final.

HONG KONG SAR 1 March 2023 – Y.X Community, a collaborative network for students to enhance their overall well-being and unleash their potential, and the Hong Kong PropTech Association (“HKPTA”) is launching a new competition to find Hong Kong’s green proptech champions and help them transform their ideas into profitable ventures. Called Green PropTech Innovator Challenge, it invites all Hong Kong’s higher education students and student-founded early-stage startups to propose their proptech solutions that address the theme “Reducing the Carbon Footprint.” The Challenge is supported by leading corporates with UOB as the Diamond Sponsor. AEW, Cathay United Bank, China CITIC Bank International Limited and OCBC Wing Hang Bank as Gold Sponsors.

Green PropTech Innovator Challenge is the biggest and first competition of its kind in Hong Kong to create an end-to-end platform for turning ideas into potential ventures. The three-stage competition brings together over 50 guest speakers, proof-of-concept (POC) partners, investors and mentors, such as MTR Corporation Limited, Chinachem Group, Wang On Properties, LAWSGROUP, Gammon Construction, and Great Eagle Group. It offers an ideal opportunity for students to gain first-hand and practical lessons and test their ideas. See Appendix for the complete list of mentors and POC partner organisations.

Funding support begins right after stage 1. The ten finalists will have HK$10,000 each to develop their presentation further and test their prototype for stages 2 and 3. A total of HK$100,000 awaits the final three winners who successfully present their ideas in front of the judges. After stage 3, the winners will get a chance to test their proof-of-concept further at the access point provided by POC partners, co-working space to work on projects and meet potential investors, and the opportunity to pitch for pre-seed funding from Hong Kong’s leading developers and angel investors.

“We strongly believe in the creativity and innovativeness of our students when it comes to solving global issues, in this case, reducing the carbon footprint. After all, it is a problem that the next generation will more keenly feel. The Green PropTech Innovator Challenge offers students the training, comprehensive mentorship advice, valuable access to investors and funding they need to get their ideas from sketch to POC and even transforms into practical solutions. Essentially, it offers a complete journey for future sustainability leaders,” said Nick Lo, CEO of Crystal Properties Development Ltd.

“Over the years, Hong Kong has seen many ideas from young sustainability champions. It is also home to the largest property and construction industry players and investors. This competition closes the gap between ideation and production by bringing both communities together. It allows participants to finetune their ideas and presentations with PropTech mentors, develop and refine their prototypes and minimal viable products with investor funding, and then move into production with the help of Hong Kong’s industry leaders,” said Vivian Chan, Founding President of HKPTA.

Competition details

The Challenge is open for submission from 1 March 2023 until the end of April 2023. For application or enquiries please visit https://bit.ly/3EHQhsg.

It has five categories:

• Carbon Tech: This category is in-building energy-efficient equipment, appliances, and other tangible ideas to reduce carbon emissions for zero-carbon building or climate-positive initiatives. Potential solutions include those for reducing, reusing, recycling or removing carbon emissions.
• Smart and Green Building: Solutions for efficient and innovative use of resources through automation and minimising emissions and energy costs using remote maintenance fall under this category. They can include in-building smart systems and those for meeting green building certifications, such as BEAM and LEED.
• Construction Tech: This category focuses on the construction industry. Solutions can include innovative green construction tools, machinery, modifications, software, etc. Solutions can include those using robotics and augmented reality (AR) for designing, innovative structural items that improve heat insulation and 3-D printed recycled construction materials.
• Waste Reduction: Technology that helps reduce or eliminate building waste and create self-sustaining buildings will fall under this category. Solutions can include waste monitoring, recycling, and upcycling tech, and better resource management systems.
• Other Green Solutions: This last category is for solutions that reduce carbon footprint but do not fall into any of the above categories.

All candidates will go through a 3-stage judging process.

Stage 1: Candidates to apply online at https://bit.ly/3EHQhsg. Upon enrollment, candidates will receive a link for submitting a proposal online. See below for details. A knowledge-sharing seminar and a tour of Sino Inno Lab will also guide the candidates in creating their proposals. 10 submissions will be shortlisted for the next stage.

Stage 2: The 10 finalists will be paired with mentors from leading companies. HK$10,000 will be offered to each finalist to develop their pitch deck with their mentors further, create a prototype, and test it.

Stage 3: All 10 finalists pitch their proposals to a judging panel of leading practitioners and academic leaders. Submissions will be judged on genuine creativity and innovation, ease of use, functionality, commercial value, and social impact. The panel will choose the champion, the first and second runners-up.

Prizes and post-competition support

The first prize is HK$50,000, the second is HK$30,000, and the third is HK$20,000.

The competition does not end at the end of stage 3. Y.X Community and HKPTA will promote the video highlights of the three winners, exhibit the proposals at a press conference, and invite POC partners to validate the proposals.

The winners will also have the opportunity to pitch and connect with up to five investors and potentially secure up to HK$1,000,000 in angel-led pre-seed funding. They can also use the workspaces at Y83 to meet investors and potential clients and further develop their solutions.

Proposal submission and more info

The Green PropTech Innovator Challenge is open for submission from 1 March 2023 until the end of April 2023. Interested candidates can now apply online or find more details at https://bit.ly/3EHQhsg.

For enquiries, please contact media@yxcommunity.com or call 8101 2339.

Appendix

POC Partners and Mentors information

POC partners – to provide access point for proof-of-concept testing:

Asia Allied Infrastructure, Baguio iRecycle, CHI International, Chinachem Group, Chuang’s Group, Crystal Investment, Gammon Construction, Great Eagle Group, Hengli Investments Holding Group, KaiLong, Lan Kwai Fong Group, LAWSGROUP, MTR Corporation Limited, SOCAM Development, Wang On Properties

(in alphabetical order of organisations)

Mentors – to offer one-on-one guidance for proposal/prototype development:

(in alphabetical order of surname)