My Experience during HKUST Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
Reported by: Chan Yu Nin
During this summer, I had the opportunity to participate in the HKUST Entrepreneurship Bootcamp held in Hong Kong, 6-12 July 2025. The theme for this year is health and medicine with AI and technology. We were divided into groups to work on a prototype and business model, aiming to provide solution to a problem statement in the health and medicine field.
Day 1
After icebreaking, we started off the bootcamp with introductory lectures and interactive games on topics such as entrepreneurship, startup ecosystem in Hong Kong, and design thinking. Guest speakers from the Hong Kong Christian Service were also invited to share their experiences and provide insights for our problem statement for special needs children and the elderly. It was very shocking to know the work load social service workers and health care givers, which is why we were requested to think about how to incorporate AI and technology to these fields and help solve their problems.
Day 2
We went on a site visit to the Lingnan University Jockey Club Gerontechnology-X Lab in the morning. We were introduced to the silver economy in Hong Kong and the technologies developed to assist the elderlies in their daily lives. There were also booths set up for us to experience the equipment designed for the elderly.
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Gerontechnology Lecture and Equipments
After sorting out the ideas inspired by the guest talks and site visit, we were requested to define our problem statement and brainstorm for our prototypes. Our group decided on a squishable stress ball that could help keep track of young adults’ stress level, and provide early warning signs to potential mental health disorders.
Day 3
A business model workshop was held to help us understand what is a business model, and create our own business model for the prototype and service. After lunch, we had a startup simulator, where groups compete with each other to be the company that holds most asset. This game was quite new and challenging for my partner and I, so we decided to just play safe. We did not win any price from the game, but managed to stay out from bankruptcy. Overall, I think that it was a good opportunity for me to practice taking risks and budget allocation.
Day 4
In the morning, we had a pitching workshop where we learned about basics of dos and don’ts in pitching. Later in the afternoon, we had guest speakers sharing about their own startups and introducing their technologies in the health and dental field. The rest of the day was mainly for group work as we were going to have our final presentation, which is the pitching competition. We had some difficulty in getting everyone on the same page, but it was solved after long discussions among the members.
Day 5
The final day has arrived. Our team leader did the whole pitching and I was there to support during Q&A session. We were announced as the champion during the award ceremony and I was very proud that our prototype and ideas were given the recognition. After lunch, we had a site visit to the Hong Kong Science & Technology Park, where we were introduced to several startup companies, ranging from medical, construction, to environmental fields. It was an eye-opening experience to see how active the Hong Kong startup ecosystem is. As a wrap-up of the bootcamp, we were invited to a ferry dinner around the Victoria Harbour and everyone certainly had a good time engaging in conversations and enjoying good food together.
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Group photo with our award-winning prototype
Overall thoughts
The whole program was in general inspiring and mind-changing. Starting from the first few activities, we were asked to ignore the feasibility and solution types while brainstorming for ideas. To be honest, I was having a small conflict in my mind since I have been trained in a strong engineering environment, where feasibility and solutions have always been the priority. However, I realised that ignoring those in the early stage may contribute to more creativity. Therefore, I truly think that it was a good opportunity for me to learn the perspectives of people from other fields and I think that it will certainly be very useful in my future career path. Other than the program itself, I met a lot of talented and motivated people during the bootcamp. Through talking, sightseeing, and playing games together, I got to learn more about other cultures and more importantly, got to listen to different thoughts from people of different backgrounds. It was truly inspiring, and I believe that it has opened up more choices, be it my future career path or other choices in life.