When thunderous applause filled the hall and spotlights converged on the stage’s brightest minds at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal on Nov 7, it marked another moment when innovation took flight from Hong Kong — a city increasingly defined by its role as a cradle of technology.

The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) concluded the EPIC 2025 Grand Finale, presented by Cathay and HSBC. The Asia flagship startup pitching competition is transforming the former runway of Hong Kong’s old airport into a launchpad for the next generation of tech leaders.

This year’s EPIC featured three tracks — Digital Health Tech, FinTech, and Green Tech — received about 1,200 applications from over 70 economies, and brought 100 elite teams from 28 economies to Hong Kong.

Each team faced the challenge of condensing years of research and ambition into a 60-second pitch. Twelve teams advanced to the finals, where they had three minutes to elucidate their core innovations, business models and commercialization roadmaps, followed by incisive questions from the judges.

Singapore’s NEU Battery Materials, after an intense round of pitches, claimed the Overall Championship as well as the title of Green Tech Winner with its pioneering patented electrochemical recycling technology of lithium batteries. KA Imaging Inc from Canada won the Digital Health Tech award for its Spectral X-ray system that identifies and separates soft tissues and bones. In FinTech, Singapore’s Belli triumphed with an aviation optimization software that enhances cabin loading efficiency.

Each category winner received $20,000, while NEU Battery Materials secured an additional $60,000 for its overall victory, and the top 12 finalists received $10,000. More importantly, all the top 100 startups gained access to an investment pool worth $105 million, doubling last year’s amount.

The ninth edition of EPIC was the most international edition to date. It drew near 1,200 applications from 70-plus countries and regions, with 87 percent coming from outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Among the top 100 finalists, 85 percent were nonlocal, and the final 12 represented six economies — the Hong Kong SAR, Australia, Canada, the United States, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.

Cathay, Hong Kong’s world-leading airline and premium lifestyle brand, and HSBC, global bank supporting innovators, were co-title sponsors of the event. Takeda, a multinational pharmaceutical company, supported the Digital Health Tech track, and Regal Hotels International was the hospitality sponsor.

EPIC 2025 had already taken flight as early as July, with a series of regional pitching events held across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, before converging in the Hong Kong final.

“EPIC has grown into an iconic global innovation contest,” said Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, addressing a packed hall of “1,000 innovators, entrepreneurs, investors and partners from all over the world”.

He added that the true beauty of the competition isn’t just about crowning winners, but lies in its ability “to give founders and dreamers a stage to share their ideas, ambitions, and vision for the future”.

In his third appearance at EPIC, Chan expressed being “more amazed, more inspired and more energized” each year by the creativity, passion and ambition on display. In a later blog post, he noted that multiple teams from past competitions had since achieved success — one startup, for instance, secured backing from a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund to roll out its technology in the region, while another has become one of Asia’s leading digital-health platforms, and expanded its network to markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

“In an age defined by innovation and integration,” said Sunny Chai Ngai-chiu, chairman of HKSTP, “We are turning Hong Kong’s connectivity into momentum, helping ideas move and scale across borders.”

He added, “EPIC 2025 is a testament to this where entrepreneurs get to connect with emerging markets and business opportunities, enthusiastic investors and partners, as well as the future of world-class innovation and technology ecosystems.”

Beyond the stage, over 200 business and investment matchmaking meetings took place during the EPIC Week, linking startups with visionary partners and investors. These matching sessions allow participants to explore and pursue the many opportunities across Asia’s dynamic markets.

Semifinalists attended the Market Discovery Programme with a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Exploration tour, exploring potential business opportunities in the rapidly growing city cluster. They also participated in the Hong Kong FinTech Week, the city’s flagship event held earlier in November, which gathered senior government officials, regulators, entrepreneurs and industry leaders from around the world.

“Throughout this week, I think delegates have immersed themselves in the region and understand the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and also in Asia,” said Hilda Chan, chief marketing officer of HKSTP.

“The network that EPIC has opened up for us is immense … and we’ve built tons of valuable connections through this event,” said Bryan Oh, founder and chief executive officer of NEU Battery Materials. It has been an eye-opener in terms of what Hong Kong can offer, including the range of grants, incentives and financial opportunities, he noted. Oh added he has been flexible and open-minded about opportunities beyond Singapore, and Hong Kong can be an option and base for the company’s next stage of growth.

The strong participation of innovative startups from around the globe in the EPIC is “a powerful testament to Hong Kong’s magnetic pull as a global tech hub”, said Terry Wong Ping-sau, CEO of HKSTP. “We connect, collaborate and build innovation the world can trust,” he added.

Wong credited much of that dynamism to HKSTP’s Soft-Landing Program, which helps overseas startups establish operations efficiently in Hong Kong. So far this year, 13 companies have completed their business registration in the city. “That’s not just a number — it’s a vote of confidence in our ecosystem,” he said.

HKSTP’s vibrant innovation ecosystem is home to over 10 unicorns, more than 15,000 research professionals, and over 2,400 tech companies from 26 countries and regions, covering the fields of biotechnology, artificial intelligence and robotics, fintech, and smart city.

With robust financing channels and a strengthening industrial chain, Hong Kong now boasts more than 4,700 startups, around 500 more than a year ago. The city ranks third globally in “Technology” according to the latest World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, while the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster tops the 2025 Global Innovation Index Ranking among the world’s 100 leading innovation clusters.