StartUp Macau closes, Project Zaask big winner

The Portuguese Prime Minister presents the awards

The two-day Startup Macau Forum ended yesterday with the final presentation and judging the 19-startup projects by young entrepreneurs seeking for financing and development.
Portuguese project “Zaask” by Kiruba Shankar Eswaran won the first prize and the opportunity to be highlighted during the upcoming Web Summit Lisbon 2016, that will take place next month. The winners also got a cash prize of US10,000.
Two honor prizes were granted to the projects “Phantoms,” from a local startup headed by Law Kit Chi and Felix Lam and China’s “Insure Honge Intelligence Design,” by Zhang Lei Lei and Chen Yong.
The event was organized by the Macau China ThinkTank for Fintech Industries, with the support of the Portuguese government. It was conceptualized by CESL Asia and partnered by several institutions. The aim was to connect entrepreneurs from China, Portugal and Macau in a forum that promoted the development of new startups and entrepreneurship.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa attended the closing ceremony and highlighted the importance of these initiatives in a creation of “borderless” business opportunities.
Costa, citing the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in his speech earlier at the Forum Macau metaphorically said, “Macau is a place of bridges just like the ones linking the peninsula to the islands. But, above all, is a place of a very long bridge imaginary bridge that extends from Macau to East Timor, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Sao Tome [and Principe] and from there to Brazil before finally cross back the Atlantic Ocean reaching Portugal.” The Portuguese Prime Minister added: “In today’s economy based on knowledge, creativity and innovation if there is something essential is to establish ‘links,’ between talent and diversity because it is from the combination between talent and diversity that we can push forward creativity and innovation.”

Startup and innovation center in Macau

During the event was also sign an agreement between João Vasconcelos, Portuguese Secretary of State of Industry and the Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong. The agreement has the purpose of the establishment in Macau a Startup and Innovation Center to open in 2017.