As Hong Kong is rethinking its innovation and technology development, this study aims to describe the development of Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem from a qualitative firm-level microeconomic perspective and explore the relationship between ecosystem structure and startup life cycle. We found that the startup ecosystem is weakest in the "valley of survival" stage midway, which is also the stage when startups need the most support. As technology entrepreneurship is still relatively unknown in Hong Kong, research is often out of touch with industry needs, making it difficult to derive products and markets. In addition, there is a lack of interaction and integration between local business schools and early-stage R&D work, and existing accelerator and incubator programs fail to provide tools conducive to long-term growth. , and there is a lack of early-stage and mid-stage venture capital. In addition, the end-market size of Hong Kong’s technology start-ups is limited and may not be sufficient to support a large-scale and scalable revenue model.
Although Hong Kong exhibits certain advantages, the research malaysia telegram data reveals a key pain point: after company formation and proof of concept, a gap emerges between technology concept prototypes and commercial viability due to a lack of subsequent resources. This shortcoming makes it difficult for startups to attract traditional venture capital. Therefore, we put forward some policy recommendations to strengthen the existing startup ecosystem, including: 1 cultivating an innovative culture; 2 establishing an information exchange center for innovation and startups; 3 promoting cross-institutional collaboration; 4 bridging the gap between industry and startups; and 5 supporting market expansion.