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The accelerator will be San Francisco-based Wearable IoT World’s first foray into Asia

(From left to right) S. Neil Vineberg, Managing Director, Wearable IoT World; Kyle Ellicott, Chief Labs Officer and Co-Founder of Wearable IoT World; Redg Snodgrass, CEO and Co-Founder of Wearable IoT World; Ir. Allen Yeung, Government Chief Information Officer; Duncan Chiu, Managing Director of Radiant Venture Capital; Gordon Yen, Managing Director of Radiant Venture Capital; Herman Lam, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited; and David Chung, Chief Technology Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited officiated the launch of the US-Pan Asia IoT Superhighway accelerator in Hong Kong yesterday. (Image credit: Wearable IoT World)

San Francisco-based Wearable IoT World (WIoTW) launched an accelerator in Hong Kong yesterday that will focus on driving IoT innovation and entrepreneurship in the city and Asia in general.

Named the US-Pan Asia IoT Superhighway, the accelerator will also help push IoT development globally. It has closed HKD35 million (US$4.5 million) in investments, led by Radiant Venture Capital with participation from TEEC Angel Fund and wCapital.

“In the 2016 Policy Address, the Chief Executive [of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), CY Leung] stated that the government will set aside HKD2 billion to set up an Innovation and Technology Venture Fund to co-invest in local startups with private venture capital funds on a matching basis,” said Ir. Allen Yeung, Government Chief Information Officer of the HKSAR. “Through the joint forces of different stakeholders, we intend to further intensify the development of startups, entrepreneurship, business angels, and accelerators in driving high-value innovation and technology industry.”

Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited is the official partner of the initiative and will house WIoTW’s executive office and WIoTW labs.

Also Read: IoT is the hottest investment choice for APAC accelerators

Applications have opened for the programme, with the accelerator set to kick off in May 2016. The WIoTW Labs’ portfolio in the US includes Skully, a smart motorcycle helmet, and CreoPop, touted as the world’s first 3D pen.

There is no age qualification for selection and interested startups can be at varying stages of growth (pre-funding, seed, Series A, etc). Applicants must move to Hong Kong for the 15-week programme and have a product prototype as well as technical knowledge.

“We are thrilled to be able to extend our expertise from the US to this region through a full suite of services for startups and enterprises to excel in IoT, wearables and emerging technologies,” said Redg Snodgrass, CEO and Co-founder of WIoTW.

“This marks a long-awaited milestone in our continued quest to build the easiest pathway to product creation, market awareness, investment, and distribution for related startups around the world.”

WIoTW has plans to expand into other Asian markets, including Shenzhen and Singapore as well as other parts of Southeast Asia.

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