Jumpstarter 2025: innovating for a brighter future
A new role for artificial intelligence (AI) will be unveiled this month at one of Asia's leading tech and start-up events. The aim is to make AI a powerful catalyst for sustainable development, and more than just a revolutionary technology that changes the way we work.
Advertisement
Jumpstarter, a start-up initiative by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund (AEF), focuses on providing a platform for entrepreneurs and young people to kick-start their business ambitions in Hong Kong. This year's event, on March 26 and 27 at AsiaWorld Expo, will bring together entrepreneurs, corporations and investors to explore the future of innovation. Amid growing concerns about the environment across the world, the theme of this year's edition – the seventh Jumpstarter – is AI and sustainability, highlighting companies that are committed to blending innovation with responsibility.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and sustainability from thought leaders, including a diverse line-up of more than 100 speakers from around the world. Keynote speeches and panel discussions will focus on the most pressing aspects of AI, such as its ethical implications and its role in sustainability, entrepreneurship and investment.
'This year we will delve into a 360-degree overview of AI,' says Cindy Chow, executive director and CEO of AEF. 'The discussions are expected to inspire innovative thinking and encourage participants to explore collaborative solutions to the challenges they face, fostering a deeper understanding of AI's impact on society and the economy.'
Over the past 10 years AEF has invested US$93 million to help fund 76 companies.
Speakers will include Joe Tsai, co-founder and chairman of Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post; Ben Barone-Nugent, generative AI supergroup lead at Canva; and Erika Cheung, executive director of Ethics in Entrepreneurship. Cheung was one of the whistle-blowers in the controversy surrounding the now-defunct healthcare tech start-up Theranos. Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po will welcome attendees during his opening speech, highlighting the city's strategic role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.
Advertisement
Since its launch in 2015, AEF has reviewed more than 13,000 business plans and created over 2,200 jobs in Hong Kong. A core part of its mission is to connect promising start-ups with investment capital and offer strategic guidance to help them grow their business through high-impact networking opportunities. A one-on-one business matchmaking session during the event will give tech entrepreneurs, businesses and investors – including venture capitalists and angel investors – a platform to exchange ideas and discuss potential partnership opportunities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
34 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
US tariffs hit China's exports in May, but June seen as ‘a better month'
China's export growth slowed last month, weighed down by fewer US orders being made before the two countries came to a 90-day tariff truce. Advertisement And while June's prospects look poised to improve, China's manufacturing and trade sectors remain under strain, according to economists, who also point to lingering uncertainties over American tariffs. China's May exports were up by 4.8 per cent, year on year, to US$316.1 billion, customs data showed on Monday. The figure followed April's 8.1 per cent growth and fell short of the estimate of a 6.28 per cent increase in a market survey by Chinese financial data provider Wind. Exports to the United States plunged by 34.52 per cent, sharper than the 21 per cent drop seen in April, owing to the trade war between the two countries. Advertisement
RTHK
an hour ago
- RTHK
China-US trade talks under way in London
China-US trade talks under way in London China and US trade officials meet in Lancaster House in London. Photo: Reuters The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism opened in London on Monday Vice Premier He Lifeng attended the meeting with the US delegation including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House. The meeting is aimed at shoring up a fragile truce in a trade dispute sparked by US tariffs that has roiled the global economy. The talks are expected to last at least a day and followed negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war. Lutnick did not attend the Geneva talks at which the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other. President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. The meeting in London was helped by news that Beijing on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while US aviation giant Boeing is to start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April. (Agencies)
RTHK
an hour ago
- RTHK
China-US trade talks under way in London
China-US trade talks under way in London China and US trade officials meet in Lancaster House in London. Photo: Reuters The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism opened in London on Monday Vice Premier He Lifeng attended the meeting with the US delegation including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House. The meeting is aimed at shoring up a fragile truce in a trade dispute sparked by US tariffs that has roiled the global economy. The talks are expected to last at least a day and followed negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war. Lutnick did not attend the Geneva talks at which the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other. President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. The meeting in London was helped by news that Beijing on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while US aviation giant Boeing is to start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April. (Agencies)
