As many local startups are facing a lack of funds, there is a need for an “angel fund” in Macau to provide new companies with capital for their initial investment in order to help them produce and sell their products and services, chief executive candidate Ho Iat Seng told reporters yesterday.
The term “angel fund” refers to a money pool created by individuals, companies or other entities for investing in business startups.
According to Wikipedia, an angel investor is an affluent individual who provides capital for a startup, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. Angel investors usually give support to startups at the initial moments and when most investors are not prepared to back them.
Ho visited the Macau Young Entrepreneur Incubation Centre in Avenida do Governador Jaime Silvério Marques in Zape yesterday afternoon and listened to nearly a dozen entrepreneurs about their new products and opinions. Ho also shared his decades-long business experience with the about 50 members of the centre.
Ho, 62, talked to reporters on the sidelines of his visit, saying that as Macau needs to diversify its economy, “it’s necessary to support youth entrepreneurship. The centre provides young people with workspaces, helps them get in touch with their potential clients and launch product promotions. Moreover, the most important thing is to boost startups’ ability to achieve industrialisation and marketisation.”
Responding to media questions about the government already spending a lot of money on youth entrepreneurs but with chequered results, Ho said that running a new company was a long process which needed time to explore and gain experience, adding that the government was mostly providing workspaces and technical support for startups rather than just giving them money.
Ho said he understood that many young people are facing funding problems when they start a new company. He said:” Local banks require youth entrepreneurs to mortgage their property as security for a loan, but sure, young people mostly don’t have one [a property]. Macau should consider setting up an angel fund to provide financial backing for small startups so they can focus more on their product design or scientific research.”
Ho also pointed out that it’s important to ensure sufficient transparency and supervision of the funding programme in order for the public to be aware of the cost of supporting entrepreneurs.
Traditional Chinese medicine
Meanwhile, when asked by the media about Macau’s Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) development, Ho noted that the growth of the TCM industry has not been as fast as the growth of the tourism industry, adding that its development still needed some time. Ho added that there is still no law in Macau supporting the TCM sector so there was room to discuss the matter in detail in the near future.
Ho also said that the city’s young entrepreneurs needed to consider local market demand and their products should match Macau’s culture in order to attract potential buyers. For example, some of them have imported educational materials from the mainland and are producing a traditional Chinese character version with the aim of attracting local schools to buy the materials, he said.
Chief executive candidate Ho Iat Seng signs his name on the wall at the Macau Young Entrepreneur Incubation Centre in Avenida do Governador Jaime Silvério Marques in Zape yesterday. Photo: Rachel Lei
