1km & Beyond Startup Pitch Competition

Event Details:

Date: 24 June 2026 (Wednesday)

Time: 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM (Welcome Remarks at 9:30 AM)

Venue: The BASE (Room 1520), HKUST Campus

The "1km & Beyond" (1公里加油计划) special session aims to accurately connect early-stage hard-tech projects in Hong Kong and overseas. It serves as a pre-empowerment platform for innovative teams intending to develop and expand in Shanghai and Mainland China. Through "1km & Beyond Startup Pitch Competition", outstanding startups will gain comprehensive landing services, including talent policy support, physical workspace, investment and financing opportunities, and industrial chain connections.

Hong Kong Region Prize 

• Champion HKD$5,000
• 1st Runner-up HKD $3,000
• 2nd Runner-up HKD $1,000
•  
• The prize of 1km & Beyond Startup Pitch 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 6 to 10 winning teams will earn a direct recommendation and fast-track entry to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Municipal Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition held in August 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:

• Deep tech startups
• Teams should have a strong intention to expand their business, commercialize, or land their projects in Shanghai/Mainland China.
• Each startup team must submit a Pitch Deck (presentation) that outlines their technology, business plan, and market potential.

• An individual cannot be a member of more than one team at the competition. 

   

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) & Shanghai State-Owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd. 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:

• AI for Science （科学智能）
• Artificial Intelligence (人工智能)
• Biomedicine (生物医药)
• Green & Low Carbon (绿色低碳)
• Integrated Circuits (集成电路)
• Smart Manufacturing (智能制造)

3. Submission Details:

3.1 Application Submission (Deadline: 12 June 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 30 teams will be shortlisted for the Final Pitch Day. The finalists will be notified by 18 June 2026.

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

3.2 Final Round - Pitch day: 24 June 2026, 10:00 – 17:00 

Venue: The Base(Room 1520), HKUST

• The top 30 teams will be shortlisted for the final round.
• Each team that enters the final round will be required to pitch at HKUST Campus to the Finale Judging Panel within 5 minutes, followed by a 3-minute Q&A. English will be used during the presentation and Q&A.
• Both on-site and online pitching modes are supported (online pitching is reserved for overseas teams or those unable to attend in person).
• The finalists will present one by one in the Final presentation on 24 June 2026. Therefore, all teams shall be ready to fully attend the final presentation and give the presentation. Details of the final round arrangement will be announced in due course.
  Please refer to Section 4 for the judging criteria of the submission.

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 (HKUST Entrepreneurship Center & Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd.), 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 Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd. 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 & Shanghai State-Owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd 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.

 7. Panel of Judges:

• Mr. Daniel CSONTOS (Venture Partner, Tenity)
• Mr. Ping Fung WONG (Chairman, Hong Kong Association of China Business)
• Mr.  Ma Ming (Deputy General Manager of Innovation Sourcing and Investment Department, Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Investment (Group) Co., Ltd)
• Ms. XIAOYU HUANG(Director, Shenchuang Investment (Hong Kong) Limited/ Shanghai Science & Technology Venture Capital (Group) Co., Ltd.)
• Mr. Alan Cui (Boson Ventures, Managing Partner)