Special Report – Start-ups in Macau

Macau Business | June 2022 | Special Report | Start-ups in Macau


Much done, lots to do

You get the feeling that, around here, people only started talking about start-ups during Chui Sai On’s second term.

And while it’s true that the notion of backing entrepreneurship as an alternative to the diversification of Macau’s economy has gained new prominence – especially through Economy and Finance Secretary Lionel Leong – many will be surprised to learn that Macau’s first incubator launched more than 20 years ago!

The pioneering endeavour may have been too far ahead of its time: it was only in 2015 that a real strategy came together around the decision to create the Macao Young Entrepreneur Incubation Center (MYEIC), which opened five years ago.

This more recent push serves as the starting point for our special report, a portrait of the local start-up ecosystem with special emphasis on the roles of the Government in funding and of the universities in incubation, along with some of the more “boring” legal issues (given that now more than ever we’re talking about crossing the border).

N.B.: The following pages present a selection of local start-ups chosen by us because they are representative of the local ecosystem’s diversity. We could have used other criteria, but no method employed would have been entirely objective – there simply isn’t one.

Co-ordinated by:

João Paulo Meneses [email protected]


Small is beautiful

Is Macau, with its limited amounts of space and people, really a good place to create and develop start-ups? Experts say it is


Waiting for government-managed investment funds

Already the main source of support for local start-ups, the government needs to do more and, above all, do it differently, experts suggest


The story began in 2001

Many will say start-ups only became a topic of conversation in Macau in the last decade, but it’s worth remembering the first local incubator was created in 2001


Peaks and (inno)valleys

Macau’s incubators face great competition from those in Hengqin, in particular from the Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley


GBA: “More choice, more room”

Macau’s entrepreneurs are not short of options: they can stay or they can go. Or they can stay and go at the same time, taking advantage of the many facilities available in the GBA


The platform

Local Government and other actors, such as universities, have been creating the necessary conditions for Macau to play a role linking start-ups in the Chinese- and Portuguese-speaking countries.


Some of Macau’s stand-out start-ups

There are hundreds of start-ups in Macau. We have chosen a few that represent various sectors and different levels of development.


Legal assistance: prevention or remedy?

Legal issues are often low on the list of a start-up’s priorities. Next come the unpleasant surprises


Universities lead the way

Almost all universities in Macau have an incubator – or are planning to have one soon.


Jerome Yen: “Macau is very suitable for entrepreneurship”

If the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is the most important incubator in Macau, Professor Jerome Yen is responsible for its success. In this interview he talks about the past, but above all the present and the future, with an optimistic message: Macau has the right conditions to develop good start-ups.