Guides and Notes for the Applicants Hong Kong Shenzhen Cyberport Creative Micro Fund Young Entrepreneur

ur Programme (HK-SZ CCMF-YEP)

You are strongly advised: To read the brochure related to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Cyberport Creative Micro Fund Young Entrepreneur Programme (HK-SZ CCMF-YEP) before filling in the registration form and application form. To study this Guides and Notes to Applicants before submitting your registration and application. To contact Entrepreneurship Centre via phone or email when you come across any query in filling the application form.

Eligibility Criteria

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

Applicants must be below 30 of age before the registration deadline. Applicants must be currently enrolled or graduated within 3 years under a registered postsecondary education institution in Hong Kong or Shenzhen before the registration deadline. Applicants must submit their registration in a team comprising of 2-3 Hong Kong applicants or 2-3 Shenzhen applicants. Applicants must form a Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint team comprising of 2-3 Hong Kong applicants and 2-3 Shenzhen applicants to submit a joint CCMF application before the application deadline. Each Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint team must assign a Hong Kong team leader and a Shenzhen team leader who must remain in the team during the entire programme period. Projects must be rooted in ICT-related areas. The joint CCMF application must demonstrate to the vetting committee a reasonably good probability of success for their plans with regard to the technology, creative and innovative ideas, social impact and business model underlying their project. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint teams must have, or be willing to open a bank account with a recognized Hong Kong based lender for receipt of the funds and such account must be under the name of the Hong Kong team leader or an incorporated company formed for the project in Hong Kong. Project related expense items should not overlap with the Government and/or ITCs funded items if any.

1.5 1.6

1.7

1.8

Page 1 of 5

 1.9
All entries must be a startup that has received less than HK$500,000 in funding from outside sources during the past 18 months. Grants earmarked for research expenditures do not count toward the HK$500,000 limit. Each team must pledge that they have not exceeded the HK$500,000 limit at the time their application is completed and submitted. A startup can be a group of people who have formed a team to enter the contest. .

1.10 All awarded joint teams will be required to sign and adhere to HK-SZ CCMF-YEPs terms and
conditions stipulated in the CCMF Agreement and be subject to the laws of the Hong Kong SAR.

Programme and Vetting Procedures

2.1

Programme Registration and Initial Screening Individual applicant from Hong Kong or Shenzhen is required to submit a programme registration form before the registration deadline for initial screening by the Entrepreneurship Centre to ensure that he/she meets the eligibility criteria as stated in this Guides and Notes to Applicants. Qualified applicants will be notified by emails for their successful registration.

2.2

Orientation Orientation meetings/trainings will be arranged by the Entrepreneurship Centre to facilitate communications between the applicants from Hong Kong and Shenzhen in order to form a Joint Team.

2.3

Joint Application Screening Each Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint team is required to submit a joint CCMF application before the application deadline. The joint application will be screened by the Entrepreneurship Centre to ensure that he/she meets the eligibility criteria as stated in this Guides and Notes to Applicants.

2.4

Vetting Meeting A Vetting Meeting will be scheduled within 30 working days after the joint application deadline. Four or more Entrepreneurship Centre Advisory Group (ECAG) Members and a representative from the co-organiser(s) in China will form a vetting committee (Vetting Committee) to evaluate the joint applications. The shortlisted teams will be invited to attend the Presentation Session.

2.5

Presentation Session The shortlisted joint teams are required to conduct a 10-min presentation about the Project, followed by a 5-min Q&A session. A Vetting Committee formed by at least 3 ECAG Members will undertake to evaluate the merits of the joint applications and the performance of the applicants in the presentations. The final funding decision will be subject to the evaluation and approval of the Vetting Committee

Page 2 of 5

 2.6
Funding Scheme A HK$100,000 grant (Grant) shall be disbursed to the Hong Kong Shenzhen Young Entrepreneur Programme Recipient by stages in the following manner:
2.6.1 2.6.2

HK$10,000 shall be paid upon the signing of the CCMF Agreement. HK$45,000 shall be paid, when The Interim Report is approved by the Committee; and The receipts of the expenditure for the project are submitted to the Entrepreneurship Centre.

2.6.3

HK$45,000 shall be paid, when The Project is completed; The Final Report is approved by the Committee; and The receipts of the expenditure for the project are submitted to the Entrepreneurship Centre.

2.7

Project Implementation and Reporting The awarded joint teams shall be required to make use of the fund granted to implement their business / project within a period of 6 months. During the implementation period, the teams are required to submit interim and final report in English.

Vetting Criteria and Weighting The Vetting Committee and Vetting Panel shall consider the following criteria weighted as follows in determining a prospective projects potential to be a grant recipient:

3.1

Project Management Team (20%) The ability of the project management team reflected from its prior track record, execution ability, good probability of launch to market, individual qualifications, and team job allocation.

3.2

Revenue Model (20%) The commercial potential, feasibility, and assessment of market potential as well as realistic revenue projections will be considered.

3.3

Business Model and Time to Market (30%) The effective communication and quality of vision, direction, short and long term objectives, market need for product, target market and marketing strategy, and realistic assessment of the project viability. In addition, a product launch within three months from grant disbursement will be encouraged.

3.4

Technological innovation (20%) Factors such as the use of innovative technologies, creative solutions, disruptive technology capability, emerging, or breakthrough technologies to solve a problem.

Page 3 of 5

 3.5
Social Responsibility (10%) Preference will be given to projects that incorporate social responsibility objectives as a project focus (including contribution to open source, Creative Commons and other progressive technologies with a social focus), exercise ethical decision making, or contribute toward solving a problem originating from the social environment.

4 5 6

The programme registration form consists of three parts. Individual applicants shall complete all parts with supporting documents (whenever required). The joint CCMF application form consists of five parts. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint team shall complete all parts with supporting documents (whenever required). The individual applicant and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint team shall observe the following requirements when filling in the programme registration form and joint CCMF application form: 6.1 6.2 6.2 6.3 Use English to complete the programme registration form and joint CCMF application form; Present all monetary figures in Hong Kong Dollar; Use Traditional Chinese characters for Chinese information; Put NA where the information sought is not applicable or not available;

7 8 9

The programme registration form must be submitted online by the applicant. Otherwise it will not be processed. All programme registration forms will be screened by the Entrepreneurship Centre. Qualified applicants will be notified by emails for their successful registration. Three hard-copies of the completed joint CCMF application form, plus an online application have to be submitted. The hard-copies of the completed application form should be submitted to: Cyberport Creative Micro Fund (CCMF) Scheme Unit 518, Level 5, Cyberport 3 (Core F), 100 Cyberport Road, Hong Kong Email: ecentre@cyberport.hk

10 The CCMF joint application form must be signed by the principal applicant. If the applicant is a
company, the form must be signed by the director or owner of the applicant organization. Otherwise it will not be processed.

11 An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the applicant and the joint team upon receipt of the
registration and application within 2 working days.

12 The joint teams will be requested to give express consent to the CCMF Administration to publish
selected information of the joint applications on the Cyberport and CCMF-YEP Programme website as well as other programme materials for public access.

Page 4 of 5

13 For enquiries about the CCMF may be directed to:

Hotline: 852-3166-3900 (9 a.m. 5 p.m., MondaysFridays) Fax: 852-3166-3027 Email: ecentre@cyberport.hk

14

Result Announcement

14.1 Email notification shall be sent to the applicants on the final vetting result. 14.2 Awarded joint team shall sign and return the CCMF Agreement to confirm the acceptance of
the offer for admission to the CCMF Scheme.

Page 5 of 5