HONG KONG — Hong Kong has been ranked first in Asia and fifth in the world when it comes to having startups that show explosive growth potential, disruptive technology, and strong global scalability, according to study released by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) on Monday.

The study, titled "Inside Asia's Fast-Track to Global Tech Scale," showed that that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region achieved a sore of 370 in CB Insights’ proprietary Mosaic index— an industry-recognized indicator of high-potential ventures and future unicorns.

Hong Kong’s top ranking among Asian markets reflects a concentrated pool of scale-ready ventures and highly investable innovation, the report found.

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The white paper, jointly produced with CB Insights — a global tech intelligence leader and predictive data platform trusted by Fortune 500 companies — shows how Asia is reshaping the global innovation landscape through a network of specialist clusters, each optimized for different stages of the innovation journey.

It was released as HKSTP officially kicked off its year-long 25th anniversary celebration with an event called "Together to NEXT."

Key findings  

The report also highlights how Chinese mainland is driving a physical AI takeover. Asia’s AI investment is surging, with physical AI leading the way. Robotics raised $26.1 billion and AI infrastructure hit $21.4 billion in 2025, outpacing generative AI and fintech. China dominates the region with close to 100 percent of deals in emerging segments, including robot and industrial humanoid robot foundation models, vision language, and autonomous driving models.

The report notes the different roles of Asia’s tech hubs. While the mainland dominates frontier technology and manufacturing scale, the Hong Kong SAR serves as a key bridge and gateway for global capital and commercialization. Japan executes half of regional acquisitions; India leads commercialization across fragmented markets; and Singapore allows companies to test new models with real customers while connecting Southeast Asian innovations to capital.

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The report concludes that Asia is actively vying for global R&D leadership. The region’s share of global R&D expenditure surged from 24 percent in 2007 to 45 percent in 2024, according to World Intellectual Property Organization, even as Asia is already the dominant region for global manufacturing.

Asia’s share of global GDP reached 48.6 percent in 2025, according to the Boao Forum for Asia, driving global consumption with growing purchasing power.

"Asia’s rising innovation power is rewriting the global innovation map. While Silicon Valley grew as a single, all-in-one hub, Asia, with the Chinese mainland as a key technology engine, is evolving an accelerated and more specialized network for global innovation," said Terry Wong Ping-sau, CEO at HKSTP.

Hong Kong’s role as a super connector and value-adder has never been more important as Asia sets a new benchmark for start-up ecosystems, he added.