“Elevator Pitch Competition 2020” - Virtual Battle for Global Startups

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) held its annual Elevator Pitch Competition 2020 (EPiC) virtually on 6 November for the first time. This year, EPiC attracted 476 entries from 37 countries and cities, who presented their innovative business ideas with a one-minute video pitch to simulate the signature 60-second elevator ride to leading investors and judges. US-based biotechnology startup, Mi Terro, crowned champion and claimed the top prize of US$100,000 at the competition.

Mi Terro, also the winner of the Smart City category, is a company that upcycles and reengineers protein food waste into plastic and cotton alternative fibres for the fashion, medical and packaging industries. The three Tech Category Winners, including UK-based AI & Robotics startup Arctoris, Philippines-based fintech startup PearlPay, and Portugal-based health technology startup RUBYnanomed, showcased their potential as innovators in the competition.

Startups which participate EPiC have to present their innovative business ideas in a one-minute elevator pitch. The top ten finalists were given another opportunity to face the judges in a three-minute live pitch and two-minute Q&A, before announcing the overall champion, who took away a cash prize of US$100,000 while each of the category winners received a cash prize of US$10,000 and all ten finalists won US$6,000 each. This year the event was expanded to a week-long virtual programme. Please visit https://epic.hkstp.org/ for more details.

List of Winners: