Rosewood Foundation Entrepreneurship Award

If you have a solution that is addressing sustainability development in Hong Kong and are looking for funding to scale up your solution and expand your business, apply now.

In partnership with Rosewood Foundation, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) has launched the “Rosewood Foundation Entrepreneurship Award” to support young entrepreneurs in combining their passion for ‘doing good’ with business, and to unlock their creativity and talents by connecting them with resources and support mechanisms.

About the Award

The Rosewood Foundation Entrepreneurship Award will provide scale-up funding of up to HKD 100,000, along with mentorship and business collaboration opportunities:

• 10 companies shortlisted to participate in the Pitch Day will receive mentorship services and networking opportunities provided by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and Rosewood Foundation.
• 5 companies will be selected to receive scale-up funding of up to HKD 100,000 to expand their businesses and explore opportunities for collaborating with the hospitality business.

Application Requirements – Four Themes:

Applicants must be working on 1 or more of the following themes:

1. Eliminating waste and pollution
2. Promoting product materials/solutions that focus on circularity: reducing, reusing, recycling and upcycling
3. Driving sustainable consumption and production;
4. Refining environmental solutions that focus on improving sustainability in the city (e.g. access to clean water, clean and affordable energy).

Eligibility

1. Hong Kong permanent residents aged between 18 and 35;
2. Applicants must not have been bankrupted or involved in bankruptcy proceedings;
3. Applicants must be seeking support for scale-up funding to either:
   1. Expand their existing business, or
   2. Expand into a new area of business that has already been tested or certified.
4. The company must be registered in Hong Kong and have been in operation for at least 1 year but not more than 5 years;
5. Applicants need to provide relevant business registration documents, including a copy of the Business Registration Certificate, a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation, and a copy of the Incorporation Form (Company Limited by Shares)
6. If the company to be funded is a joint venture or operating as a limited company, all partners or shareholders must also be joint applicants and meet the above qualifications.

Judging Criteria

The judges will select the awardee companies to receive funding based on the following criteria:

1. Innovation and creativity applied in the products / services scalability (20%)

Sustainability, innovative, creativity, and application of the business operating in Hong Kong regarding products / services scalability

2. Management and business development strategy (20%)

Corporate culture, business development strategy, staff training and social value & responsibility.

3. Market positioning and competitiveness (15%)

Marketing positioning and competitiveness in Hong Kong

4. Marketing strategy, business viability and sustainability (15%)

Effective and sustainable development of the business model, including marketing strategy, customer relationship management, cost-effectiveness and contingency plans.

5. Originality, uniqueness, and relevance of products / services to the social problem (15%)

6. Finance and cost control (15%)

Products or services pricing and cost control strategy.

Judging Process

• The Secretariat will conduct a preliminary review and score the plans submitted by contestants according to the judging criteria. They will recommend 20 finalists to the Rosewood Foundation and invite them to attend the first round of interviews.
• After the first interview, 10 finalists will be selected, and industry experts (including partners of the Rosewood Hotel Group) will be invited to organize industry talks and workshops for the applicants. One-on-one consultations will also be provided for the top 10 finalists.
• The 10 finalists will attend the final interview conducted by a judging panel composed of professionals, who will then select five finalists who will receive the Rosewood Foundation Entrepreneurship Award.