‘How fascinating,’ ‘What a thrill’—whether recounting recent observations in the start-up community, the latest technological breakthroughs, or reminiscing about the many ‘firsts’ in fostering campus entrepreneurship, Professor Kevin Au always respond with these two phrases and a bright smile. That pure curiosity and passion seem undimmed by the passage of time.
In the late 1990s, this young scholar returning to teach at his alma mater, the CUHK Business School, found himself organising a major Asian MBA entrepreneurship competition on a whim. Kevin thought it would be far more exhilarating than his usual teaching and academic writing. Thus began his unexpected journey into entrepreneurial research and practice.
Now an Associate Professor in CUHK’s Department of Management and the founder and director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Kevin is also a key advocate for campus entrepreneurship. From co-founding the Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge (HKSEC) and the Pre-incubation Centre (PI Centre) to the recent Deep Tech Lab, his presence has been a constant at CUHK’s entrepreneurial initiatives, regardless of scale.
‘Back when we discussed startups, a saying circulated in Hong Kong: “Low tech to scrape a living, high tech to make a killing.” Today, I doubt anyone would dare voice that—because Hong Kong’s high tech truly generates wealth. ’ Our latest issue of CUbicZine features Professor Au Yuk-fai to chart his extraordinary voyage in fostering entrepreneurship, offering a glimpse into how an academic navigates the commercial seas.
Starting from the ‘Bottom Two in Asia’
After completing his PhD in Industrial Relations Management and International Business at the University of British Columbia in Canada in 1996, Kevin returned to CUHK to teach, never imagining he would later dedicate himself to entrepreneurship education. In 1998, Professor Bee-Ling Chua of CUHK Business School secured sponsorship from the US Nasdaq to introduce the Asia Moot Corp business plan competition to Asia, inviting Kevin to join. ‘She was deeply passionate about promoting entrepreneurship. With such an experienced pioneer leading the way, I thought I’d give it a try.’ The competition drew MBA students from Asia’s top universities to CUHK. Though business plans have since fallen out of favour, his involvement in organising the event gave him his first taste of the thrill of entrepreneurship education.
CUHK introduced the Nasdaq Asia Moot Corp in 1998, then Asia’s sole MBA student business plan competition. A young scholar back then Kevin Au was invited by Professor Bee-Ling Chua to help organise the event, gaining insight into entrepreneurial significance for society. From left: Professor Prof. Andrew Chi-fai Chan, then Associate Dean of CUHK Business School and MBA Programme Director; Professors Bee-Ling Chua and Kent Neupert, two Associate Directors of the MBA Programme. (Image source: CUHK Communications)
‘However, the overall entrepreneurial atmosphere Hong Kong was not favourable.’ Around the turn of the millennium, amid the dot-com boom, innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship were hot topics worldwide, including Hong Kong. The stock market was on fire, and as a metropolis, Hong Kong offered abundant opportunities. Yet in reality, many were lured by other options, leaving the overall state of start-ups rather gloomy.
Entrepreneurship is vital for economic diversification. Confronted by this disparity, Kevin adopted an academic approach to investigate the root causes. At the time, Hong Kong viewed entrepreneurship merely as a survival tactic for SMEs. Kevin recounts how they boldly applied for funding from the SME Fund, successfully securing resources to participate in the Hong Kong regional research for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) from 2002 onwards, publishing annual findings. ‘This was hugely significant – it allowed us to operate under a legitimate banner, and virtually everyone was willing to open their doors and share insights with us.’ The invaluable network forged through this initiative became the bedrock for his subsequent efforts to promote entrepreneurship. The research revealed Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial rate stood at a mere 3%, ranking higher only than Japan within the Asian region.
Since 2002, CUHK has participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research initiative (taken over by the Center for Entrepreneurship in 2005), examining Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial landscape. (Image source: CUHK press release)
Having gained credibility through research, a key milestone arrived in 2005. With institutional backing, several Faculty of Business Administration professors – including Kevin and Professor Wong Kam-fai from the Department of Engineering – established the Center for Entrepreneurship: ‘At last, we had a foundational body to sustainably advance entrepreneurship.’ The Center subsequently launched a social enterprise competition, which also relied on piggybacking initiatives. He joined the government’s Commission on Poverty, suggesting: ‘Since we’re tackling poverty, why not inject some innovative ideas? Everyone agreed.’ Thus, in 2007, the Commission sponsored the inaugural Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge, gradually planting the concept of social enterprises in Hong Kong.
The Center for Entrepreneurship (CfE) at CUHK was established in 2005, the same year it launched the CUHK Vice-Chancellor’s Cup of Student Entrepreneurship. To date, the Cup has attracted 330 participating teams, benefiting over 1,700 individuals. The founding members of the CfE: from right, Professor Wong Kam-fai, Professor Hugh Thomas, Professor Bee-Ling Chua (then Director of the CfE); left: Professor Kevin Au. (Image source: CUHK press release)
In 2007, the Center for Entrepreneurship (CfE) organised the inaugural The Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge. To date, it has attracted over 2,000 social venture plans, more than 10,000 participants, and involvement from 196 institutions. (Image source: CUHK press release)
Walk the Talk: First Trees Must Be Planted
Reflecting on this pioneering journey, Kevin says each step demanded the courage to ‘walk the talk – urging others to act while leading by your own example. That’s the spirit of entrepreneurship: when resources are scarce, you find your own market. What we sell is the drive to foster entrepreneurship – let’s see if anyone’s willing to buy.‘ As their reputation grew, they partnered with entities like Cyberport and Science Park. Various competitions, such as the CUHK Vice-Chancellor’s Cup of Student Entrepreneurship and the Professor Charles K. Kao Student Creativity Awards, began sprouting on campuses, gradually becoming the ‘infrastructure for entrepreneurship’ that gave students and professors opportunities to explore entrepreneurship. Many campus entrepreneurship initiatives at the Center for Entrepreneurship also worked closely with CUHK’s Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO) to jointly build a more comprehensive entrepreneurial ecosystem for students. Later, the center even attracted Google to co-host the Empowering Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) Program in Hong Kong.
Through researching entrepreneurship, he identified another pain point: while Hong Kong’s market is not deficient in venture capital, very little invests in local startups. “Hong Kong isn’t as concentrated as Silicon Valley, where dozens of companies are ready for investment at any given time; Hong Kong’s manufacturing and tech firms aren’t that strong; out of twenty, perhaps only one or two get picked. Investors find it too troublesome, so they don’t even take a look, let’s not mention building a local entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
In his view, many come with a cherry-picking mindset: ‘They think this ecosystem is a desert and don’t want to come and cultivate it; they’d rather wait until someone else has planted the trees before coming to seek shade.’ Noting this gap, Kevin took on this dirty work, launching Hong Kong’s first angel investment scheme (later named Hong Kong Venture Investment and Business Angel Network) with Science Park. Through mentoring and matchmaking, he nurtured relatively immature companies step by step until they could engage with angel investors or even secure funding. When promoting the ‘angel fund’ in its early days, he even drew laughter: ‘People heard “angel” and thought I was here to preach. Truth be told, I am preaching too—just not the church kind.
Academic Entrepreneurship: The Reality Behind the Passion
This entrepreneurial researcher—someone who truly walks the talk—has evolved from a pioneer into a mentor for aspiring academic entrepreneurs. Many who approach him for advice are heavyweight professors from various departments. “I believe those who seek us out already have a different mindset. People with big ambitions know when to leverage support and set aside their pride to get things done.” Professors are often unfamiliar with the market, and stepping into new territory requires a shift in mindset and perspective.
Academic entrepreneurship focuses on commercialising research outcomes, with professors and their teams often at the forefront. Unlike typical business ventures that start by identifying market demand and pain points, academic startups usually begin with a breakthrough discovery that holds commercial potential, then work backwards to find the right market. These academic assets—patents and intellectual property—form strong competitive moats. While the path to implementation is long, the potential is significant.
Yet all ventures ultimately need paying customers. He points out three major challenges professors face when entering entrepreneurship:
First, the complexity of intellectual property systems.
University and commercial regulations are notoriously cumbersome, involving multiple layers of approval. These processes often become entangled with different research funding sources, making it difficult to transfer patents into a spin-off company. The path is long and unclear. Even though Hong Kong’s current framework is relatively well-defined, institutional silos still hinder startups from securing their patents.
Second, imbalanced team structures.
Few professors are willing—or able—to serve as CEOs, leaving much of the responsibility to students and postdocs. In the early stages, company value depends heavily on the professor’s patents and research expertise. But execution requires prototyping, negotiations, and increasing contributions from business partners and frontline staff.
This leads to a critical problem: professors enjoy tenure and often hold the bulk of the equity, while others shoulder operational burdens and risks. If these contributors consistently receive only a small share, how can they stay motivated to take on greater risks? At this point, a redistribution of equity becomes essential.
Third, the lack of pilot testing infrastructure.
Intellectual property alone cannot become a product. And with Hong Kong lacking a full manufacturing ecosystem, collaboration with external partners becomes necessary. This collaboration ensures the product integrates with existing technologies, consumer habits, legal frameworks, and undergoes continuous iteration—a crucial phase known as pilot testing.
Professors struggle to find suitable pilot testing institutions willing to take risks, stitch together every component, and overcome each hurdle in the process.
Addressing these challenges now demands new and innovative solutions.
The Current Startup Community: Too Many Selling Dreams, Too Few Bringing Products to Market
Hong Kong now boasts numerous startup programmes and mentorship schemes. Yet Kevin observes that most remain pitch-oriented – with scarce resources, startups must perpetually sell dreams, hoping investors will recognise their potential and provide backing. Mentors are predominantly investors, experts in valuation yet unfamiliar with practical operations and production, and often give scant attention to a startup’s growth. In effect, there are far more selling dreams than bringing products to market.
To redirect the focus from ‘selling dreams’ to ‘delivering products,’ Kevin established the Deep Tech Lab in 2023. Comprising serial entrepreneurs, industrial specialists, investors, and experts from diverse fields, it provides practical guidance and production advice to deep-tech start-up teams, addressing gaps within the ecosystem.
In mid-2023, Professor Kevin Au, Director of the CUHK Center for Entrepreneurship, initiated the Deep Tech Lab to focus on nurturing deep-tech projects for market application. (Image source: CUHK press release)
The Deep Tech Lab provides startups with international networking opportunities. Through innovative formats such as group discussions and debates, it helps each startup define target and development directions, while arranging CUHK MBA students to offer business analysis support. (Image source: CUHK press release)
To date, the Deep Tech Lab has incubated 49 deep-tech companies, bringing together 135 scientist-entrepreneurs and 63 mentors. It has assisted these ventures in progressing from prototypes to products, securing cumulative investments of US$4.8 million (with an estimated market valuation of US$46 million). (Image source: CUHK press release)
Having worked alongside entrepreneurs for years, Kevin has compiled his firsthand cases into the book “CUHK Entrepreneurs”, with the third volume released last year. He has deep insights into the blind spots of academic entrepreneurship.
Does Money Inevitably Benefit Entrepreneurship?
Funding in the startup ecosystem can be categorised as either “smart money” or “money that holds you back”. Some funds encourage professors to continue research without demanding commercialisation. While academic teams applaud this, as it facilitates publications, scientific breakthroughs, and reputational gains, none of these directly generate revenue. Moreover, products that benefit consumers often stem not from cutting-edge technology, but from technology that fits the need – not necessarily requiring the most sophisticated research. If teams secure too much money that holds them back, they become preoccupied with research and lose sight of market demands.
In contrast, funding that demands a marketable product with buyers, known as smart money, drives the startup towards market needs, enabling the team to scale up.
Does academic entrepreneurship distract from research?
Studies indicate that for some professors, engaging in entrepreneurship actually enhances academic performance. Entrepreneurship broadens their network, enabling collaboration with previously inaccessible partners. This cross-pollination of ideas facilitates breakthroughs in research.
Indeed, academia, commerce, and other avenues of contribution to society are not mutually exclusive. Scholars entering business discover new research topics through market needs, bringing these back to academia. Commercialising research allows knowledge to leave the “ivory tower”, benefiting more people, creating opportunities for students, and giving back to the institution.
Is every professor suitable for entrepreneurship?
Certainly not. If a professor personally serves as CEO and manages daily operations, it is often ill-suited—not due to lack of capability, but excessive opportunity cost. However, if entrepreneurship serves merely as a research backing with the team handling market operations, many professors possess the right credentials.
For both students and professors aspiring to start businesses, this entrepreneurial “coach” offers this simple advice: take the first step. Only through action will the next path become visible. Merely pondering breeds problems; only doing yields solutions.
Perhaps it is precisely this simple yet unshakeable conviction that has enabled him to navigate the voyage of entrepreneurial education for over two decades, never stopping.
Scholar’s Encyclopedia: Pilot Testing
Refers to the intermediate testing phase transitioning experimental prototypes from laboratory to actual production, serving as the core link in commercialising scientific achievements. Its key function is to reduce trial-and-error costs and risks during transformation. By integrating specialised equipment, engineering expertise, and industry certifications, it assists research teams and start-ups in overcoming engineering and commercialisation challenges unmanageable within isolated laboratory settings, thereby accelerating the convergence of innovation and industrial chains.
The ‘pilot testing platform’ established to support this process constitutes an open, shared industrialisation service infrastructure. Typically developed within universities, research institutions, emerging technology enterprises, or social organisations, it facilitates cross-disciplinary collaboration among professionals from industry, academia, and research bodies.
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