Newsletter No. 545

Jack Kong is a mentor of HKXTech Startup Platform and an investment partner at Beyond Ventures. He has invested in more than 20 startups comprising the fintech, AI, e-commerce, healthcare and social media businesses. He believes Hong Kong has no lack of skilled talent and the scientific research achievements of local universities are a source of incubation support for startups. Noteworthy examples include SenseTime incubated at CUHK’s Faculty of Engineering. Compared to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, he opined that Hong Kong’s tech startups are still in their infancy. He added that a win-win outcome depends on a good understanding of the mainland market, culture and policies, and making good use of the talent, capital and innovation technology from both sides. Venture capitalists primarily invest in startups during their initial phase. Decisions to invest or not are usually determined by the soundness of ideas, the business models and market positionings proposed, even though the entrepreneurs might not have any products ready for launch. He said, ‘Entrepreneurs in the past would start a business if they had spotted its market potential before others did. But the same cannot be applied to the emerging industries. We can only seek to understand an industry’s potential as fast as possible and formulate a method of analysis. It would be too late if we wait until a business segment gains popularity. Investors of technologies like blockchain laid the groundwork five years ago.’ Jack considers learning ability and an open-minded attitude are crucial for one to navigate the world of venture capital investments smoothly. He believes a company’s business performance is ultimately reflected in its financial statements, no matter how dynamic its business model or products appear to be. ‘I majored in professional accounting, the lingua franca of the business world. Whenever I meet a founder introducing his business, a set of profit and loss statement figures would surface in my mind to help me form a picture of the startup’s future potential.’ J. Lau By studying how the human body, and the natural world, retains water in a functioning structure, Prof. Bian Liming of the Department of Biomedical Engineering has established promising new implant materials which deliver drugs and heal injuries—hydrogels. Professor Bian likens his new hydrogels to a ‘smart’ fishing net. The connections where the knots of the net connect are dynamic, which are formed from links between molecules that bind and release. His team is the first to use those reversible connections to make dynamic hydrogels that can contain cultivable cells. Many drugs discovered in the lab kill cancer cells in the Petri dish. But when they are administered to a real 3D tumor, they do not function as they do in the dish. He hopes his invention can be used in the lab to build 3D cancer models that would identify which drugs work in the real world. The hydrogel can also be used to repair injured tissues. Currently, almost all stem cells die within a few hours of being inserted into an injury site, having no protection around them to get adapted to their new environment. The hydrogel can afford the stem cells the protection and support they need to survive long enough to prove useful. He has also generated hydrogels that are very sticky or take any shape, meaning they can attach to an injury site such as an open wound or a stomach ulcer. It can then provide a protective coating at the site of the injury. If it is also loaded to contain a therapeutic drug to treat the injury, it could deliver the drug to help an ulcer recover without invasive surgery. A common problem with older patients is necrotic bone in the femur head, making them vulnerable to hip fractures in a fall. Current treatment involves surgery to remove the dead bone tissue and the liquid that has accumulated. The hydrogel can be injected via keyhole surgery into the bone to fill the holes and cavities that have developed in the bone as it decays, giving the bone more support. It can also stimulate the growth of new bone. The injection could also contain stem cells to help the bone repair and strengthen. The treatment would at least delay if not obviate the need for a hip replacement. Alex Frew McMillan 榜 上 友 名 / R oll C all A lum 江振鴻 是香港X科技創業平台的導師及海闊天空創投的投資合夥人，投資過二十多家初創企 業，業務橫跨金融科技、AI、電子商貿、醫療、社交媒體等。他認為香港不缺技術人才，本地大 學的科研成果能孵化出優秀的創科企業，例如中大工程學院的商湯科技。 相比北京、上海、廣州和深圳，他指香港的科技創業尚在萌芽階段，本地企業要了解內地市 場、文化和政策，善用兩地的人才、資金和創新技術，才可以互利雙贏。創投人主要投資前期 階段的新興產業，有時連產品也未推出，但會基於創業者的想法、商業模式、市場定位等判斷 是否注資。 他說：「以前的企業家會看準未來市場發展，早人一步創業；但新興產業無軌跡可循，我們只 能盡快了解產業的潛力，建立分析方法。要是等到人人都吹捧該產業時才注資便會太遲，像 方塊鏈這類技術，早在五年前已有投資人布局。」 江振鴻覺得學習能力和開放的態度助他游刃於創投領域。他認為商業模式和產品可以千變萬 化，但最終公司業務表現必須反映在其財務報表。「我主修專業會計學。會計是商業社會的通 用語言，創業者在簡介業務時，我的腦海已浮現一個損益表，助我理解初創公司未來潛力。」 創投天地闊 Venturing into the Brave New World 生物醫學工程系 邊黎明 教授研究人體和大自然的構造如何保存水分，開發送藥療傷的新材 料—水凝膠。它是包圍在細胞外、具滲透性的水合聚合物網絡，容許營養進入並滋養細胞。 邊教授開發的水凝膠像「智能」漁網，當中連結可以因應情況變動，分子一鬆一合，便可組成不 同的連結。其團隊破天荒應用水凝膠中的可逆轉連結，製成動態、內含可培植細胞的水凝膠。 藥廠研發的藥物可以在平面培植碟上殺死癌細胞，但應用在真實立體的腫瘤上往往成效遜色。 他希望其發明可用於實驗室中建造立體的腫瘤模型，以評估哪些藥物於真實環境中見效。 水凝膠也可用來修復受傷組織。目前差不多所有幹細胞在注入傷患處後數小時內便會死亡， 因為幹細胞的周邊缺乏保護，無法適應新環境。水凝膠正好充當幹細胞的護盾，讓其存活更 久，發揮效用。邊教授能夠製造黏力強、任何形狀的水凝膠，可以依附外露傷口或胃潰瘍，在 傷患處形成保護層。如果水凝膠加入治療傷口的藥物，便可在不作入侵性手術的情況下有效 地送藥到患處，治療潰瘍。 長者常見毛病是股骨頭壞死，他們跌倒便會容易摔斷髖骨。現時的治療需靠手術把死去的骨 頭組織和積存的液體移除。骨頭被侵蝕後產生空腔，水凝膠可以經由微創手術注入骨頭，填 滿這些空腔，承托骨頭，刺激新骨頭生長。注射時加入幹細胞可修復和強化骨頭，這樣便可延 遲入侵性治療，甚至不用更換髖關節。 敷傷續骨新法寶 The Helping Hand of Hydrogels 學 術 探 奇 / S cholarly P ursuits 掃描閱讀全文 掃描閱讀全文 Scan to read the full story Scan to read the full story 中文 中文 English English 07 # 5 4 5 | 1 9 . 1 0 . 2 0 1 9