Venture Leaders Fintech Winners Close an Exceptional Week Pitching in Hong Kong

The ten ambitious Swiss fintech founders in the Swiss National Startup Team enjoyed more than a dozen high-level pitching sessions with multi-billion-dollar investors in Hong Kong. Their intense roadshow week in the Great Bay Area closed with visits to fintech unicorns in Shenzhen as inspiration for the team's high aspirations.

While Venturelab has more than a dozen years experience bringing Switzerland's the most-promising tech entrepreneurs to hotspots from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, it was the first time the Swiss startup supporter brought a competitive selection of fintech founders to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. The Greater Bay Area initiative aims to create a region encompassing Hong Kong, Macao and the Pearl River Delta with economic power comparable to the business regions around San Francisco, New York and Tokyo.

"Hong Kong has a booming entrepreneurial ecosystem with more than 700 fintech startups. It's the bridge to China and south-east Asian region," said Stefan Steiner, co-managing director of Venturelab. "Here money is never an issue, and the ecosystem is more techfin than fintech."

The roadshow opened with briefings on the region's economic strength, and introductions to the legal aspects of regional operations with licensing, compliance and regulatory experts. China is the world’s leading fintech market with transaction worth $25 billion last year, and Hong Kong serves as a huge financial hub with more than $3 trillion in assets under management.

The Swiss National Fintech Team pitches at the Sky100 in front of more that 100 investors. Congratulations @andiburri from @loanboox for winning the Sky Pitching during the Venture Leaders Fintech roadshow in Hong Kong. Learn more: https://t.co/toTDhugoHI #VleadersFintech pic.twitter.com/uwTzrMwIGi

— Stefan Steiner (@blogstone) November 7, 2019

... as well as aboard the Aqua Luna, the city's most recognizeable red-sailed junk sailing in the harbor.

Inspiring conversations at Fintech Pitch Cruise aboard the Aqua Luna. Thanks to the venture leaders and all our guests! #HKFinTechWeek @venturelab_ch @swissnexChina @zuehlke_group pic.twitter.com/nCEE6DOOXi

— Christoph Bröcker (@cabroecker) November 5, 2019

The Swiss National Startup Team were invited to meet executives at regional fintech unicorns including AirWallex (raised $202 million), BITmex (trading history of over $34 billion worth of Bitcoin since its launch), The TNG FinTech Group (raised $115 million in Series A, the largest series A investment for a FinTech company), and WeLab (raised $425 million).

????#VLeadersFintech ?????????? ???? ???? ?????????????? ????????: ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????????! ?| The intense 6-day program concluded last Friday, linking our 10 Fintech startup champions with local multi-$B investors, mentors, experts & potential partners! pic.twitter.com/FqsSRlENem

— swissnex China (@swissnexChina) November 11, 2019

"An exceptional week has come to a close here in Hong Kong. It was just as intense as fun," said Vlot co-founder Daniel Schmidheiny, who enjoyed a many "great conversations with local industry experts, advisors, investors and also potential clients. Tons of opportunities."

Venture Leaders Fintech winners 2019