Q: Evaluation Criteria

30 % Business Model Viability Sustainability 30% Innovation and Technological Feasiblity 25% Social Impact, Beneficiaries, & Corporate Social Responsiblity 15% Team & Partner Expertise Please refer to the guideline for more details

Question 1

What Do We Offer?

Accepted Answer

1. Up to HK$600,000 per team in seed funding, which will be disbursed to the team in the combination of instalment and reimbursement basis.
2. Access to CUHK’s strategic platforms, networks, and resources in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and the GBA accompanied by comprehensive information on supporting policies and marketing opportunities
3. Free Training sessions led by seasoned industry experts to equip startups with necessary knowledge and skills
4. Free Professional consultations for business plan development, intellectual property planning, legal advice, risk mitigation and commercialization strategies
5. Free Hands-on support for product/service refinement, user experience testing, and creating of compelling marketing assets for the GBA market

Please refer to the guideline for more details

Question 2

Eligibility (Updated 6 October 2025)

Accepted Answer

Individual applicant or a limited company incorporated by the team are eligible to apply for funding under the scheme. You are not required to incorporate a company if you do not wish to do so before the application. However, if you and your team are successfully selected for participating in the scheme, you are required to incorporate a limited company. We set out below a list of requirements if you are interested in applying for the scheme. These requirements must all be met before your application will be considered.
The team members (including the team leader) must meet the following criteria: 
1. Each team member must be between 18-39 years old, as of the application deadline, and must hold a Hong Kong permanent identity card. Except for the team leader, individuals who do not satisfy the requirements above can be a team member, provided that they are not the sole shareholder and that their collective shareholding does not exceed 20% of the company’s issued shares when the company is incorporated.

2. The team leader must be a current student of CUHK (full-time or part-time), or an alumnus who graduated within the past 5 years, holding or having pursued a postgraduate degree/diploma or undergraduate degree offered by CUHK.

3. Each team must include at least one CUHK faculty or staff member as a team member. The faculty or staff member can serve as the advisor or without holding any ownership of the startup. If this member is also a shareholder, they must satisfy conditions 1-6 of this section.

4. The team members must each be a shareholder of the company and collectively the team members must hold more than 50% of the company’s share within the duration of this scheme.

5. Each of the team members must not have previously received funding from the “Entrepreneurship Matching Fund” (初創配對基金) under the “Youth Development Fund”(青年發展基金) and the previous round of funding under the scheme.

6. At the time of application, the team members must not be declared bankrupt or be involved in any bankruptcy proceedings, either in Hong Kong or elsewhere.
 
The team leader must further satisfy the following requirements:

7. He must have substantial control (at least 20% shareholding) of the company.

8. He must play a significant role in the decision-making and execution of the proposal contained in the application.

9. He must oversee the company’s operations and be the person-in-charge of the company. This means that, for example, he must be engaged in the company’s business in a senior position (e.g. a director of the company) on a full-time basis.

10. He must be reachable during normal business hours.

11. Please also note that he can only be the team leader for ONE application under the scheme.
 
Where a company has been set up before the application, the following requirements apply:
12. The company is either not yet in operation or has been established for no more than 3 years and planned to establish operations in Hong Kong and/or GBA cities.

13. The company must not have previously received capital funding from the “Entrepreneurship Matching Fund” (初創配對基金) under the “Youth Development Fund” (青年發展基金), and the previous round of funding under the scheme.

14. Individuals or organizations which do not satisfy the requirement under paragraph 1 above may become a shareholder of the company, provided that they are not the sole shareholder and that their total shareholding does not exceed 20% of the company’s issued shares. Approved subvented NGOs and their related persons (including chairpersons, directors, head of organization, project coordinators, etc.) must not, under any circumstances, be the shareholders of the company.

15. During the Project period, where any individual or organization wants to become a shareholder or where there is any change in respect of the company’s management team, this must be reported to and approved by CUHK Business School. Any individual or organization joining as a shareholder must fulfil the eligibility criteria.

16. There is no restriction on the business nature of the proposed Project. However, businesses that are unlawful, illegal or involving tobacco, advocacy of gambling, obscenity etc. will not be supported.

17. There is no need for the company to make a business registration application for the purpose of submitting the application. But the business registration must be completed in accordance with the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310) after successful application.

18. At the time of application, the company must not be wound up or be involved in any winding up proceedings, either in Hong Kong or elsewhere.
 
Other requirements applicable to individual applicant and company applicant:

19. Your application must be submitted via CU WebForm.

20. Please note that we do not accept any applications from applicants who are receiving or shall be receiving financial support from any other public or Government funding sources for the businesses operated by the applicants under the scheme. Applicants should not be receiving any other public or Government funding sources during the Project Period unless with the Government’s prior written consent.
 
In addition to the requirements above, additional requirements for this scheme for successful applicants are set out below:
21. Successful teams are expected to demonstrate proactive engagement throughout the programme. They are required to attend a minimum of sixty percent (60%) of the training sessions, workshops, consultations, and other programme-related activities provided.

22. Successful teams are required to submit periodic reports detailing key learnings, developmental milestones, and overall progress, as requested by CUHK Business School.

23. Successful teams are required to participate in publicity and outreach activities related to the BESGO FoundRise. This includes periodically reporting and sharing case updates or impact stories with CUHK Business School for the purposes of institutional learning, promotional use, and stakeholder engagement. Participation may involve media interviews, feature articles, event appearances, or other forms of public communication coordinated by the School. This obligation applies throughout the duration of BESGO FoundRise funding and programme involvement and shall continue for a minimum period of three (3) years following its conclusion, upon request.
 
Note: CUHK Business School reserves the right to provide the applicants with any update on the eligibility requirements.
Please refer to the guideline for more details

Question 3

How to Apply

Accepted Answer

The applicant must complete the web form and the following documents on or before 22 October 2025 23:59 GMT+8. Late submissions will NOT be accepted.

1. Pitch Deck (no more than 15 slides)
2. Abstract (no more than 800 words)
3. 1–2-minutes Pitching Video (optional)
4. CV of each team member

Applicants must submit the above information via CU WebForm. (https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13711177)

Question 4

Evaluation Criteria

Accepted Answer

30 % Business Model Viability Sustainability
​
30% Innovation and Technological Feasiblity

25% Social Impact, Beneficiaries, & Corporate Social Responsiblity

15% Team & Partner Expertise
Please refer to the guideline for more details

Question 5

Application Timeline

Question 6

Selection Process

Accepted Answer

Stage 1: All applications are initially evaluated by two staff members with expertise in startup incubation.

Stage 2: Selected applications are assessed by two CUHK faculty members with entrepreneurial experience/education background, and one external assessor from a local incubator or the entrepreneurship ecosystem. All team members are required to attend an online/face-to-face interview followed by a Q&A session. 20 teams will be selected to progress to Stage 3.

Stage 3: The selected applications will be evaluated by a panel consisting of the Associate Dean of CUHK Business School and three representatives  from the entrepreneurship community such as incubators, the IT/Science  & Technology industry, existing entrepreneurs and investors, etc.  All team members are required to attend an online/face-to-face interview followed by a Q&A session.

Please refer to the guideline for more details

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