Pudong New Area "Pearl Cup" Entrepreneurship Competition Hong Kong Region 2026

The 2026 Pudong New Area "Pearl Cup" (明珠杯) Entrepreneurship Competition - Hong Kong Region is an elite, high-impact entrepreneurship platform dedicated to identifying, empowering, and accelerating deep-tech and hard-tech startups with global potential. This competition acts as the strategic launchpad for top-tier entrepreneurial talent looking to scale, commercialize, and anchor their innovative projects in Shanghai's Pudong New Area—the world-renowned hub for technological breakthrough—and across Mainland China.

Through this exclusive regional session, outstanding startup teams will gain direct access to extensive financial backing, robust investor ecosystems, policy-driven incentives, and dedicated landing support.

Hong Kong Region Prize 

• Champion HKD$5,000
• 1st Runner-up HKD $3,000
• 2nd Runner-up HKD $1,000
• The regional prizes for the competition is non-transferable by the winner. If you accept a prize, you will be solely responsible for all applicable taxes, if any, related to accepting such prize.

Benefit and opportunity 

• Fast-Track to Shanghai: The top 25 winning teams will earn a direct recommendation and fast-track entry to the semi-finals of the Pudong New Area "Pearl Cup" Entrepreneurship Competition held in September 2026.
• All-Around Landing Services: Access to a full suite of landing support in Shanghai, including policy guidance, workspace allocation, and supply chain docking.

1. Eligibility:

• Founder Profile:
  • Holds a Bachelor's degree or higher from a top university, with prior startup experience OR a formal role at a leading institution/company.
• Core Role & Participation Rules:
  • The applicant must be the primary Founder (the largest shareholder or the largest individual natural person shareholder) or the designated project leader.
  • The applicant and the submitted project must have no prior selection history under any high-level talent programs of the Pudong "Pearl Plan" (明珠计划).
• Company Status & Registration:
  • Teams or projects that are currently unregistered in Shanghai are preferred.
  • If the company has already registered a business entity in Shanghai, the incorporation date must be after January 1, 2021.
  • The local registered entity must be an independent venture and cannot be a subsidiary or affiliate of an established corporation.

A team can submit only one presentation for the Competition. An individual cannot be a member of more than one team at the competition. A team may not submit a presentation that violates the code of conduct (e.g., racially sensitive ideas will be automatically disqualified) and/or infringes intellectual property rights. HKUST Entrepreneurship Center (EC) & Pudong Innovation Investment. have the sole right to reject any presentation in violation as described above.

2. Focused field of projects:

The competition focuses on hard-tech innovations. Projects should fall under the following fields:

• Artificial Intelligence - Intelligent Device（人工智能-智能终端赛道）
• Artificial Intelligence - Models & Applications (人工智能-模型及应用赛道)
• Biopharmaceutical (生物医药赛道)
• Future Industries (未来产业赛道)
• Integrated Circuit (集成电路赛道)
• Other (其他)

3. Submission Details:

3.1 Application Submission (Deadline: 31 July 2026, HKT 11:59 ):

• Please SUBMIT your application via the StartupTree Platform.
• Upload your Pitch Deck in ONE PDF or PPT file. There is no strict page limit, but it must clearly deliver your proposed solution, technology breakthrough, and business plan.
• Please refer to Section 4 for the judging criteria of the submission.
• The top 25 teams will be shortlisted. The finalists will be notified in  August.

Please create the account and team profile on the StartupTree platform first.

4. Judging Criteria

Submissions and final pitches will be comprehensively judged by top scientists and senior investors based on the following criteria (Total 100%):

• Innovation / 创新性 (25%): Originality and breakthrough of the technology, intellectual property layout, and international compliance.
• Team / 团队 (20%): Comprehensive ability of the team members, international background, organizational structure, and collaboration capability.
• Social Value / 社会价值 (20%): Contribution to employment generation, industrial development, and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Current Traction & Market Prospects / 商业潜力与市场前景 (35%): Market capacity, feasibility of the business model, financial health, and global market expansion potential.

5. Intellectual Property

● All submissions remain the intellectual property of the teams that have developed them.

● By submitting an entry or accepting any prize, you represent and warrant the following: you will not submit content that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret, or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the content; and the content submitted by you does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms or other disabling devices or harmful code.

● Copyright:

○ Participant represents and warrants that he or she is the sole author and copyright owner of the submission and that the Submission is an original work of the Participant, or if the Submission is a work based on an existing application, that the Participant has acquired sufficient rights to use and to authorize others; and that the Submission does not infringe upon any copyright or upon any other third party rights of which the Participant is aware, and that the Submission is free of malware.

○ By participating in the Competition, each participant agrees to be legally bound by these Rules and by the interpretation of these Rules by the Organizer (Pudong Innovation Investment & Pudong Innovation Investment), and further warrants and represents that his/her and/or his/her team’s Submission:

■ is original to at least one of the team members and at least one of the team members has obtained all necessary rights in and to the Submission (and all components thereof) to enter the Competition;

■ does not violate any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation;

■ does not contain any reference to or likeness of any identifiable third parties, unless consent has been obtained from all such individuals and their parent/legal guardian if they are under the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence (note: if consent cannot be obtained for an individual appearing in the Submission, then his/her face must be blurred out and voice (if applicable) must be altered so as to be unrecognizable);

■ will not give rise to any claims of intellectual property infringement, invasion of privacy or publicity, or infringe on any rights and/or interests of any third party, or give rise to any claims for payment whatsoever; and
■ is not defamatory, trade libelous, pornographic or obscene, and does not violate any laws relating to hate speech, and further that it will not contain, depict, include or involve, without limitation, any of the following: nudity; alcohol/drug consumption or smoking; explicit or graphic sexual activity, or sexual innuendo; crude, vulgar or offensive language and/or symbols; derogatory characterizations of any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious groups; content that endorses, condones and/or discusses any illegal, inappropriate or risky behavior or conduct; personal information of individuals, including, without limitation, names, telephone numbers, and addresses (physical or electronic); commercial messages, comparisons or solicitations for products or services; any identifiable third party products, trademarks, brands and/or logos (note: if the necessary consents cannot be obtained, then all identifiable third party products, trade-marks, brands, and/or logos must be blurred out so as to be unrecognizable); conduct or other activities in violation of these Rules; and/or any other content that is or could be considered inappropriate, unsuitable, or offensive, all as determined by Pudong Innovation Investment. in its sole and absolute discretion.

 6. Privacy and Disclaimer:

• Any personal information you choose to provide will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided and will not be disclosed to other persons or organizations without your prior consent or if required by law.
• The Internet is an insecure medium, and users should be aware that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the Internet.
• Information submitted unencrypted via electronic mail or web forms may be at risk of being intercepted, read or modified.
• The HKUST Entrepreneurship Center reserves the right to accept or decline any persons, teams or organizations participating in the Competition and any activities or events associated with it, with or without prior notice or reason.
• Photos taken (if any) at the Competition and information related to the Competition will be shared among the Organizer and will be published for publicity purposes of the event.
• The decision of the Panel of Judges of the Competition and the interpretation by the HKUST Entrepreneurship Center & Pudong Innovation Investment will be final.
• Dates of the events and other arrangements are subject to change due to feasibility and other factors. The organizer will try their best to minimize any inconvenience that may be caused to participants.
• The organizer will not be held liable for any damage or loss in any form arising from the event or for the participants.

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