ANNOUNCEMENT

HKUST-SINO One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2026

 

Posted on 24th April 2026

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is pleased to announce the HKUST-SINO One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2026 (“Competition”) will take place in October 2026. 

Witnessing the growth of entrepreneurial activities in our region, the Competition aims to provide a platform for HKUST and surrounding community members an integrative learning experience to create and evaluate new business and to prepare students and alumni to start their future career in entrepreneurship.  Winners of the Competition can use the cash prize as seed money to build their own company or to further the commercialisation of their inventions and scientific researches. 

This year's Competition has expanded its eligibility beyond the HKUST community members to include teams with HKUST licensed technologies, fostering innovation and collaboration. This expansion provides a platform for innovators to transform ideas into viable businesses, promoting entrepreneurship and driving technological progress. 

To further support the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, the Competition will continue the Sustainability Impact Awards and introduce new themed awards: NextGen Biotech Award Diversity and Equal Opportunities Award Transformative AI Award These additions highlight priority areas that foster sustainable, inclusive, and forward-looking start-up enterprises. In line with this focus, new AI training workshops will be offered to equip participants with cutting-edge skills for building technology-driven businesses. 

With global collaboration in mind, the Competition has introduced an International Track, inviting aspiring entrepreneurs from partner universities worldwide to showcase their groundbreaking ideas. The top five teams from this track will be invited to present in person at the Final Competition. 

Additionally, we will continue to have this competition in 6 different regions including this one in our Clear Water Bay Campus.  The 3 winning HKUST Track teams will compete with other winning teams from Beijing, Foshan, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen in the Grand Final, which will be held later in 2026.

 

Participants:

  • HKUST Track: Open to all full-time and part-time students, post-docs, alumni, researchers, faculty, and staff from any department within HKUST. It is also open to local, mainland, and international schools, provided that each team includes at least one HKUST faculty member, student, alumni, or staff, or is licensed to use HKUST intellectual property (IP) and/or technology in their start-ups. 

  • International Student Track: Open to all non-local universities worldwide. Each team must include at least one full-time student from an international university to be eligible. For full details, please refer to “Application & Eligibility”.

Submissions:

  • All submissions must be in English and submitted online (no paper entries). 

  • While there is no restriction on topics, applicants are encouraged to focus on technology and innovation-driven businesses. 

  • Suggested areas include nanotechnology, information technology, renewable energy, environment, healthcare, financial services, logistics, and social enterprise. For submission details, please refer to “Application & Eligibility”, “Submission Rules”. 

Judging Process:

The assessment process consists of three rounds:

  • Pitch Deck (5–10 pages) 

  • 5-minute Pitching Session with 3-minute Q&A 

  • 5-minute Pitching Session with 7-minute Q&A 

    These rounds will take place between July and October 2026. For more details, please refer to  “Judging Process”.

Awards:

Winners of the HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2025 will be awarded with cash prizes.  The Competition will also provide the participants a chance to introduce their business plans to an international panel of investors and executives, while making a name for themselves within the HKUST community and in Hong Kong.

Application Deadline:

We invite interested parties to submit their online applications with their 10 page Pitch Deck for the Round 1 Assessment on or before 14 July 2026.