From generative AI to green energy, 15 finalist teams will take the stage after a record 390 teams entered this year's competition.
Updated
October 2, 2026 9:13 AM
Entrance Piazza, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. PHOTO: HKUST
The HKUST-Sino Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2026 will hold its finals on October 12, following a record 390 teams from 24 countries and regions taking part in this year's competition.
Jointly organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Sino Group, the competition aims to give young entrepreneurs a platform to develop and present their ideas. Sino Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer Wong Wing-lung said the Group has partnered with HKUST for many years to support young talent and the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong.
He said the competition gives young entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their creativity, exchange ideas and put their concepts into practice.
The international participation is reflected in the universities and regions represented this year. Participants include students from the University of Oxford in the UK, the University of Pennsylvania in the US and the National University of Singapore. Teams have also joined from Australia and South Africa.
After multiple rounds of assessment, 15 teams have advanced to the finals. Their projects cover health technology, generative AI, smart buildings, and green energy management. At the finals, the teams will present their solutions to a judging panel comprising venture capital investors, industry leaders and academic experts. They will compete for more than HK$1 million in prizes and awards.
The 2026 competition has also expanded the areas it recognises. Three new awards have been introduced this year: the Transformative AI Award, the NextGen Biotech Award and the Societal Influential Award. The competition will also continue to offer the Sustainability Impact Award. Together, the awards focus on areas ranging from emerging technologies to social and sustainability challenges.
The organisers are also adding new activities to help teams develop their ideas further. This year's programme includes pitching skills training, AI workshops, investor matching sessions and mentorship opportunities. The AI workshops will cover areas including generative AI and AI agents, while representatives from venture capital firms such as Gobi Partners and InnoAngel Fund have been invited to share insights on fundraising, product positioning and market expansion.
These activities are intended to help young entrepreneurs strengthen their business plans and presentation skills. They also give teams opportunities to explore technology commercialisation and potential market applications.
The competition will also launch the InnoBay 1M PLUS Program during the Grand Final. The programme will focus initially on Smart City Development and aims to connect HKUST start-ups and competition alumni with industry partners. It will also support potential proof-of-concept opportunities and help promising innovations move towards commercial adoption.
The Grand Final will also include an audience voting segment. Members of the public will be able to vote for the team they believe has the greatest potential and impact, with those who correctly vote for an eventual winning team entering a lucky draw.
For Wong, the competition is part of a broader effort to develop Hong Kong's innovation and technology talent. He noted that Hong Kong's first Five-Year Plan and latest Policy Address both highlight innovation, technology and talent development.
Prof. Tim Cheng Kwang-Ting, HKUST's Vice-President for Research and Development, said the competition has also served as a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to connect with investors, understand market needs, test their ideas and gain practical entrepreneurial experience. He added that the competition has strengthened its training, mentorship and networking activities this year.
The Group believes that closer cooperation between industry, academia and research institutions can help turn innovative ideas into practical applications. Through the competition and its wider support programmes, young entrepreneurs are given opportunities to develop their ideas, connect with potential partners and explore how they can be taken from early concepts towards real-world applications.
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As industrial drone adoption grows, startups are finding bigger opportunities in infrastructure, inspections and field operations.
Updated
August 10, 2026 5:56 PM
An oil pump on a field. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
As drone adoption grows across industrial sectors, more startups are moving beyond hardware sales and into service-based business models. Instead of simply selling drones, companies are increasingly trying to build recurring revenue through inspection, mapping and infrastructure-monitoring services. That shift is shaping ZenaTech’s latest expansion strategy.
ZenaTech is a Vancouver-based startup that develops AI drone and Drone as a Service (DaaS) technologies. The company has signed an offer to acquire an Alberta-based land surveying and geomatics business operating across Western Canada. If completed, the deal would mark ZenaTech’s first land surveying acquisition in Canada and its first major push into the oil and gas sector.
The move gives the startup something more valuable than just another acquisition target. It provides direct access to an industry where drones are already becoming part of everyday operations.
The Alberta surveying company works with oil and gas producers across Alberta, Eastern British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Its services include land surveying, geomatics, mapping and environmental support for infrastructure and energy development projects.
According to ZenaTech, drones are already used in roughly 80 percent of the target company’s existing projects. That matters because it reduces the operational gap between traditional surveying work and AI-powered automation.
Rather than introducing drones into a completely manual workflow, ZenaTech is entering a business where drone-based data collection is already established. The startup says it plans to build on that foundation by integrating more AI-powered capabilities across surveying, mapping, inspections and infrastructure monitoring.
Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of ZenaTech, said: "This proposed acquisition represents an important strategic expansion of our Drone as a Service business into Canada’s oil and gas sector, one of the most significant energy markets in North America. This company brings an established commercial customer base, strong regional expertise, and extensive experience supporting surveying and geomatics projects including for some large producers. We believe there is a significant opportunity to further enhance these services through AI-powered drone technology for surveying, mapping, inspections, and infrastructure monitoring applications, enabling us to establish a core expertise that we can bring to this fast-growing global industry."
The timing is also significant. ZenaTech pointed to estimates showing the global oil and gas drone inspection services market is currently valued at around US$ 2.3 billion and projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of roughly 28.5 percent.
Much of that growth is being driven by energy companies looking for faster ways to inspect infrastructure, monitor remote sites and reduce manual field operations.
ZenaTech’s broader strategy centers around building a global DaaS network through acquisitions. Instead of creating local operations from scratch, the startup is acquiring existing service businesses with established customers and then layering drone automation and AI systems into those operations.
The company says its DaaS platform offers businesses and government clients subscription-based or on-demand drone services across areas such as inspections, surveying, maintenance, inventory management and precision agriculture.
The larger opportunity for startups in this space may not be drone manufacturing alone. Increasingly, the focus is shifting toward startups that can build scalable drone service networks and integrate them into industries that already rely on large-scale field operations. Oil and gas appear to be one of the next major targets for that expansion.