The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on Friday unveiled a HK$100 million ($12.7 million) investment to provide extra backing and tailored commercialization support to its research teams taking part in the government’s Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme (RAISe+).

Seven HKUST projects won funding in the latest round of the RAISe+ program earlier this year, lifting its total to a city-leading 19.

The university’s internal funding program, called the RAISE+ Project Fund (RPF), aims to tap the university’s stakes in earlier spin-offs rather than its reserve, to help make entrepreneurship self-sustaining.

Addressing Friday’s launch ceremony, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong described the bid as “an example of how universities can complement the government’s initiative” in becoming “a bridge between Hong Kong’s research excellence and the real market needs”.

“Promising research must be validated to meet market needs before it can be really transformed into a visible product,” he said. “And this requires close collaboration among government, industry, academic research and the investment sectors.”

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Through RAISe+ — launched in October 2023 with HK$10 billion in allocated funding — the government has backed a total of 73 projects with over HK$3 billion in funding commitments, he said.

“And I’m delighted that HKUST has taken one step further to launch RPF … to provide additional institutional support for research teams,” said Sun.

He said the new funding program also aligns with strategic directions outlined in Hong Kong’s first local five-year plan. Announced last month, the blueprint highlights the city’s basic research capabilities as a driver of original innovation and the role of local universities in attracting and nurturing innovation and technology talent.

Tim Cheng Kwang-ting, vice president for research and development at HKUST, said that RAISe+ “has really addressed some of the most critical barriers that often prevent excellent research results from becoming excellent products”.

“And HKUST fully embraces this vision,” he said, adding that the new fund is intended to advance the RAISe+ pipeline alongside government and industry partners — and to invest directly. It marks a shift in the university’s role from a “facilitator” of research commercialization to its “co-investor”, he said.

“This is much more than a financial commitment,” said Cheng. “It reflects institutional commitment.”

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He added that the RPF program was funded wholly by returns on the university’s stakes in companies it had previously incubated — an approach he saw as “a powerful model of continuity” that could help sustain the innovation ecosystem over time. “I think we close the loop,” he said.

Scientists behind some HKUST projects funded by RAISe+ attended the ceremony to share the funding program’s significance to startups.

Sun Qingping, chair professor in HKUST’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and co-founder of green technology company CoolStar, said funding initiatives such as RAISe+ and RPF were helping to reshape research culture at universities.

“Twenty years ago, (people) liked to say professors should focus on writing papers, stay in the library”, Sun recalled. “But now, I think in Hong Kong, thanks to the government’s and the university’s efforts, I’m glad to see a technology innovation ecosystem in the city and the country. It’s changed a lot.”

Su Hui, chair professor in HKUST’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and co-founder of artificial intelligence weather technology company Stellerus, said the RAISe+ support had significantly boosted her project’s credibility and exposure. She said that this official support was a key factor in attracting two scientists with doctorates from the United States and Germany to her team.

Terence Wong Tsz-wai, associate head of HKUST’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and founder of PhoMedics, a company specialized in optical imaging, said that the backing of RAISe+ signals valuable confidence in research from both government and industry, bringing many previously reluctant investors back to the table. 

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com