Hong Kong X Technology Fund backs 6 startups

The Hong Kong X Technology Fund today announced its first round of investments into six Hong Kong-based tech companies as part of its accelerator program. Several of the chosen startups will move into the fund’s X-LAB co-working space in Hong Kong during the accelerator program.

The announcement comes just a couple days after the fund opened a new X-LAB co-working space in Jordan. The six selected startups that will enter the program are:

• BacMuno – A pharmaceutical/biotech company developing bacteria-based cancer immunotherapies for humans and animals via the use of unique method involving salmonella.
• Efinix – A company that developed proprietary tech in the programmable logic industry.
• eTopus – A firm that deals with ultra-high speed interfaces powering “next gen data centers” designed for high-performance computing, big data, and AI applications.
• PreciVax – A biotech startup dedicated to developing vaccines for antimicrobial resistance.
• Seasonalife – An insurance-tech startup which provides a one-stop, web-based solution to quote, compare, and illustrate insurance products across multiple insurers for licensed advisors in Hong Kong.
• SmartSens – A supplier of imaging systems. The firm has research and development teams in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

When asked by Tech in Asia, Hong Kong X Technology Fund did not disclose the amount of money it invested into each of the startups. It also did not share the percentage of equity it is taking from them.

“This is our first round of investments into early stage companies in Hong Kong. We see tremendous growth opportunities for these high-tech startups which have been nurtured by local academia, overseas returnees, and governmental incubation programs like Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and Cyberport,” said Neil Shen, chairman of Hong Kong X.

The fund is part of the Hong Kong X-Tech Startup Platform built in part by Sequoia Capital China, of which Shen is the founding managing partner. Shen put in the Hong Kong dollar equivalent of US$38.35 million into the project last year. His partners for the Hong Kong X project include Professor Zexiang Li of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Professor Guanhua Chen of the University of Hong Kong.

(Update on August 16: Hong Kong X corrected their statement, saying that NanoBioImaging is not one of the investees.)