Smart Living

An Overview of Our Smart Living Pursuits

Smart Living is key to Hong Kong’s evolution into a world-leading city. Through nurturing start-ups, boosting innovation, and driving adoption, Cyberport builds an ecosystem for innovators to enhance quality of life and catalyse societal progress. This supports Hong Kong’s vision of becoming a world-class smart city, outlined in the Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint.

Cyberport’s support for Smart Living start-ups goes beyond incubation, funding, solution matching, and market expansion. Our campus serves as an innovation testbed where start-ups can pilot solutions and collect data. The integrated mix of offices, shopping arcade, cinema, waterfront park, schools, and residential buildings offers a diverse, real-world setting for validating technology applications – from AI receptionists to traffic monitoring systems and more.

Building on this foundation, we established the Cyberport Incubation Programme for Smart Living Start-ups in 2023, supported by the government’s HK$265 million endowment. The initiative aims to cultivate 450 Smart Living-related incubatees over five years to accelerate Hong Kong’s Smart City and digital economy development, improving citizens’ lives. The upcoming Cyberport 5 will also feature a dedicated Smart Living demonstration hall to showcase and catalyse innovation.

Cyberport’s Smart Living Community is a Regional Leader

Close to 800 Smart Living companies now call Cyberport home. These innovators, including two unicorns, encompass verticals from EdTech and HealthTech to GeronTech, GreenTech, PropTech, among others. Many of these start-ups that have proven themselves in Hong Kong market have expanded globally, securing strategic partnerships and establishing presence in key markets worldwide.

Smart Living Verticals in Our Community

Latest Initiatives Propelling Smart Living Forward

Each Smart Living vertical has distinct needs. Our strategic initiatives, some commissioned by the government and many run with industry partners, are aimed at empowering start-ups to advance Smart Living innovations to create lasting social impact. These evolving programmes are also designed to propel Hong Kong’s Smart Living ecosystem forward.

Some of our initiatives include:

PropTech

Creating spaces for innovation in strategic locations: We opened Smart-Space PropTech in the Northern Metropolis, an 8,000-square-foot co-working facility developed with the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) dedicated to driving PropTech have settled in the Smart-Space PropTech and received entrepreneurial guidance, funding support, and access to HKHS properties for proof-of-concept trials. Tenants specialise in smart building, property management, smart homes, construction technology, GreenTech, and other smart living technologies. Complementing this physical hub, our strategic alliance with the Hong Kong PropTech Association (HKPTA) amplifies efforts to drive PropTech and Construction Technology (ConTech) in Hong Kong and other regions.

EdTech

Building bridges between innovation and education: Cyberport connects EdTech start-ups with educators through targeted events and partnerships, fostering innovation and adoption. Key initiatives include the Professional Development Programme on Innovation and Technology for STEAM Coordinators of Schools with the Education Bureau, STEAM Solution Day with the Digital Policy Office, and Learning and Teaching Expo with the Hong Kong Education City.

GreenTech

Accelerating sustainability: Start-ups at Cyberport are continually developing practical solutions for green living, sustainability, and the circular economy and showcasing these innovations through high-profile events, including the GreenTech and Sustainability Venture Day at the Cyberport Venture Capital Forum, Hong Kong Green FinTech Summit, ZERO 2 LIVE LOCAL 2024. Cyberport has also adopted their solutions in Cyberport campus including Cyberport 5 expansion.

SocTech

Connecting technology with social impact: Recognising that innovation and technology can transform society, we match start-ups with NGOs and community organisations to drive meaningful innovation. Notable initiatives include the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) x Cyberport SocTech IdeaXchange and HKCSS SocTech Symposium. We, in partnership with the Sham Shui Po District Office and District Council, co-organised the Technology Solutions Matching Day to connect start-ups with community welfare organisations and small and medium enterprises in the hopes of promoting digital inclusion in the social sector.

STEAM Education

Building Smart Living talent through STEAM: Cyberport supports the Government’s drive to cultivate young talent who is shaping tomorrow’s smart cities. Through collaboration with our start-ups at the community, we provide students with hands-on experience creating Smart Living solutions from ideation to prototype. Our student-mentorship programmes on innovation and technology pairs school students with Cyberport start-ups to develop innovative projects. The STEM+E competition challenges students across the Greater Bay Area to reimagine start-up solutions to address real-world community needs.

Comprehensive Smart Living Support to Build the Future

Beyond vertical-specific initiatives, Cyberport provides an array of support that nurtures I&T aspirations from seed to success, spanning incubation and seed funding to market expansion and venture capital. We welcome everyone – from students to unicorns, local and international innovators alike – to our community where innovation thrives. Through dedicated programmes, we also help organisations across sectors harness technology for digital transformation and sustainable growth.

Below are highlights of our Smart Living-specific initiatives:

Talent Cultivation Programmes for Students

HYAB Youth Start-up Internship Programme – Commissioned by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, offering local students 100 flexible internship positions (three-to-six months, full-time/part-time/mixed-mode) at innovative start-ups, including Smart Living pioneers. Participants gain additional exposure through visiting GBA cities to explore regional innovation ecosystems and career opportunities, and take part in a creative start-up pitching competition.
JC PROcruit C – Created and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, Cyberport, which serves as one of the convenors in the “Technology for Good” track of JC PROcruit C, provided first-time-job-seekers from a diverse academic background with over 100 traineeship opportunities in collaboration with caring employers at the Community.

Industry Development Programmes for Start-Ups

Cyberport Incubation Programme for Smart Living Start-ups – Nurturing 90 Smart Living start-ups annually over five years to accelerate Hong Kong’s smart city development. Incubatees receive up to HK$500,000 in subsidies, along with professional support services, mentorship, marketing assistance, and business matching opportunities to fuel their growth.

Upskilling and Continuing Professional Development Programmes

Professional Development Programme on Innovation and Technology for STEAM Coordinators of Schools – Co-organised by Cyberport and the Education Bureau, empowering educators with practical knowledge and resources to enhance STEAM education.
Cyberport Academy – Dedicated programmes equipping industry practitioners and aspiring innovators with cutting-edge Smart Living knowledge and skills.

Accelerating Digital Transformation

PropTech Proof-of-Concept Programme – An 18-month programme jointly offered by Cyberport and the Hong Kong Housing Society, to help start-ups validate and refine their PropTech solutions in real-world settings.

Career Opportunities in the Smart Living Sector

Since 2015, Cyberport Career Fair (CCF) has been an annual signature event aiming to bridge Cyberport community members in the sub-clusters of FinTech, Smart Living, and Digital Entertainment and job seekers, especially students and young talents who aspire to start their career in the digital tech field and I&T sector. Over the past decade, CCF has brought together over 900 enterprises and has provided 19,000 job seekers with over 8,400 job opportunities, spanning sectors of FinTech, Smart Living, Digital Entertainment, AI and more.

Showcases at Industry-Leading Events

Cyberport regularly features start-ups at major industry events to facilitate knowledge exchange and foster partnerships. These platforms connect innovators to global opportunities while highlighting Hong Kong’s Smart Living advances. Key occasions include Digital Economy Summit, Asia Summit on Global Health, GeronTech and Innovation Expo cum Summit, InnoCarnival, and InnoEx.

Success Stories Bring Possibilities

Cyberport’s Smart Living companies constantly make their mark on the international stage. Their achievements – spanning prestigious industry accolades, strategic partnerships, global expansions, and notable fundraising milestones – underscore Hong Kong’s position as a launchpad for global Smart Living success, and its evolution as a premier Smart City in its own right.