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Alibaba to set up S$183m Hong Kong start-up fund

HONG KONG — Alibaba Group has set up a HK$1 billion (S$183 million) fund to invest in Hong Kong start-ups, underscoring co-founder Jack Ma’s intention to galvanise entrepreneurship among youths and support small businesses.

HONG KONG — Alibaba Group has set up a HK$1 billion (S$183 million) fund to invest in Hong Kong start-ups, underscoring co-founder Jack Ma’s intention to galvanise entrepreneurship among youths and support small businesses.

China’s largest e-commerce operator selected Gobi Partners to become the first manager of the non-profit fund, which will support online and bricks-and-mortar companies, and provide six- to 12-month Alibaba internships for about 200 students each year, said the company.

However, the fund is not a charity, vice-chairman Joseph Tsai said in Hong Kong yesterday. It will judge investments on merit and the abilities of start-ups to offer services beyond the city.

“We want to support entrepreneurs, we want to support their dreams,” said Mr Tsai. “We also have an idea that Hong Kong should be vibrant, engaged on a regional basis, and also on a global basis.”

The affluent city of 7 million people, home to start-ups such as minivans-on-demand operator GoGoVan and storage company Boxful, is better known as a financial services and real-estate hub than a cradle of technology entrepreneurship. Funding for the local start-up community lags that of larger markets such as China, Indonesia and India, which have attracted billions of dollars.

“We are not subsidising people who can’t help themselves,” said Mr Tsai.

On Wednesday, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Mr Ma called young entrepreneurs the future of business and pledged his support for start-ups in industries such as clean energy technology. BLOOMBERG

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