The University of Macau (UM) announced in a statement yesterday that it has launched its “One Million Dollar Macao Regional Entrepreneurship Competition”, with the trade show and the “elevator pitch” contest being successfully held.
Despite its name, the competition is not about “one million dollars” but one million yuan.
According to the statement, the shortlisted teams will compete in the Macau regional final next Wednesday, with the top three teams representing the city in the national final. The statement added that during the national final, the teams will be competing with regional finalists for one million yuan (1.266 million patacas) as venture capital and “financing opportunities”.
The Macau regional competition is hosted by the public university this year and is sponsored by the Bank of China Macau Branch, with total prizes worth over 110,000 patacas, the statement underlined.
The first round’s winning teams showcased their projects such as smart city and financial technology during the contest, the statement said. The participants underlined the new technologies used in developing their products and explained their business plans through exhibitions and elevator pitches.
The statement noted that the 90-second elevator pitch* aimed to “train participants to accurately present the gist of their business plans to potential investors” in a limited time. Moreover, the products or business plans were presented by teams to audiences through exhibition panels and displays in the exhibition session.
The opening ceremony was attended by various guests such as UM Vice Rector (Administration) Claudia Xu Jian, Bank of China Macau Branch Personal Banking and Channel Management Department Deputy Director Sou Man Kin, and Macau Shenzhen Longhua Economic and Cultural Exchange Promotion Association President Aaron Cheong, the statement said.
The statement did not say when the opening ceremony was held.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology first launched the competition in 2011, aiming to offer “a platform for students, entrepreneurs, and potential investors to exchange ideas and explore collaboration opportunities”.
*An elevator pitch is a short description of an idea, product, or company that explains the concept in a way such that any listener can understand it in a short period of time, according to Wikipedia. The name – elevator pitch – reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.
This undated handout photo provided by the University of Macau (UM) shows a contestant presenting a product to spectators.
