Cyberport Incubation Programme (CIP)
Cyberport's structured incubation for digital-tech start-ups: up to HK$500K in funding + up to HK$200K in on-site rent subsidy, over 24 months. The bar is a HK-registered digital-tech company under 7 years old, with founders holding >51% or control, a local physical presence, and a product marketable within 12–18 months. Note: applications are collected year-round but processed in batches, each with a deadline (2026: 1 Apr passed, 3 Aug, 1 Dec) — not submit-anytime.
You have a HK-registered digital-tech company under 7 years old, with a product that can go to market within 12–18 months, and want structured incubation with funding, space, and investor / corporate / technology networks.
You only have an idea / prototype (go via Cyberport CCMF first); or you're not in digital tech, or the company is over 7 years old.
- Deadline / window
- Applications accepted year-round but processed in batches. 2026 deadlines: 1 Apr (passed), 3 Aug, 1 Dec, with results about 2 months after
- Duration
- 24 months
- Company age
- A HK-registered digital-tech limited company under 7 years old (or with registration in progress); founders holding ≥51% combined; at least 1 local authorised representative working from a physical office in Hong Kong
- For whom
- Digital-tech start-ups with a viable business plan and a product that can reach market within 12–18 months
- A viable business plan (business plan / team / technology; product marketable within 12–18 months)
- Apply online via Cyberport's EMS platform; three-stage vetting (screening / independent panel / shortlisted presentation)
What you get
Up to HK$500K cash + up to HK$200K on-site rent subsidy + rent-free workspace / Cyberport facilities (on-site) + four networks (investor / corporate / technology / professional-services) plus entrepreneur mentors + meeting and collaboration space + community. Graduation bar to note: at graduation you must submit audited accounts or an agreed-upon-procedures report proving at least HK$400K of spending on qualifying items (Cyberport Tech Centre equipment & services, training & marketing, market costs, professional services, HR, operations) during incubation. Most incubatees took a CCMF grant first. Cyberport has incubated Klook, GOGOX, Shopline, OneDegree, Bowtie and others; incubatees have won 1,600+ awards and generated 530+ pieces of IP.
- 1
Self-check the hard requirements
Under 7 years old, ≥51% shareholding, and able to keep a local authorised representative working from a physical office in Hong Kong.
Pitfall: Purely offshore / no local physical presence fails the on-site requirement.
- 2
Prepare a viable business plan
Set out the product's 12–18-month path to market, the team, and the technology.
Pitfall: A vague business plan with an unclear path to market will struggle in assessment.
- 3
Submit via the online platform (EMS) before a batch deadline
Collected year-round but processed in batches; 2026 deadlines 1 Apr (passed), 3 Aug, 1 Dec; after the deadline comes three-stage vetting (screening / independent panel / shortlisted presentation), with results about 2 months later.
Pitfall: Don't treat it as submit-anytime — miss a batch deadline and you wait for the next one.
- 4
Enter incubation → draw funding + use the networks (24 months)
Funding and rent subsidy are disbursed per the scheme's mechanism, with the investor and corporate networks activated at the same time.
Pitfall: The rent subsidy only has real value for on-site incubatees.
- 01Meet the under-7-years bar → plan around the next batch deadline (2026-08-03) and nail down the 12–18-month path to market first.
- 02Still at the prototype stage → get a HK$100K seed via Cyberport CCMF first, then move into CIP.
- 03Hard tech / biomedical → compare with HKSTP Incubation (Incu-Tech / Bio).
CIP data verified against Cyberport's official programme page (the user downloaded it in a real browser in 2026-07, archived under docs/cyberport/, bypassing the Cloudflare 403). Confirmed: HK$500K funding + HK$200K rent subsidy, 24 months, under 7 years old, founders holding >51% or control, ≥1 local authorised representative working physically in HK, product marketable within 12–18 months, and a graduation requirement to prove ≥HK$400K of qualifying spend; collected year-round but processed in batches, 2026 deadlines 1 Apr, 3 Aug, 1 Dec.