Walking the Talk: Stay Hungry as a Start-up Founder
Walking the Talk: Stay Hungry as a Start-up Founder
Faculty of Engineering
PhD
Yearning for professional advice and additional funding sources for her start-up, Sun Chuying and her teammates partook in the 8th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The novel idea they proposed on electromyography (EMG) technology gained them the Third Prize in the competition.
Sun Chuying as a participant in the award ceremony
As a fifth year PhD student in mechanical engineering and a sports enthusiast, Sun believed she could do more than just research papers in the field of academics. She came up with business ideas for the practical application of nanoengineering on developing wearable electronics for athletes to reach their desired fitness level by detecting real-time muscle activities. She hoped this could benefit not only the professional athletes but also the amateur ones as their end customers.
In 2021, Sun and her current teammates initiated a technology start-up named EleMotion Technology Limited anticipating to actualise their business plan. Their current product was EMG sensors, which were developed through the innovation of nanofabrication and electrophysiological detection. As an innovator of smart clothing, her team previously achieved the Excellence award at Chunhui Cup in China last year and consecutively gained funding from Technology Startup Support Scheme for Universities at HKU (TSSSU @ HKU) for two years. “ We believe participating in various competitions is the best way to gain real-life experiences for putting forward our business plan,” said Sun.
EMG sensor as the current product of EleMotion Technology Limited
Reflecting on the latest competition, Sun revealed the biggest challenge they faced all along would be the questions related to their marketing strategies from the judges. “I would say we are quite confident in academic knowledge. However, in the business field, our team is just a beginner,” said Sun.
Beginning a start-up requires a high degree of teamwork, Sun felt very thankful that Wang Xiaojun, another Co-founder of the company, played an important role as a mediator when a difference of opinion was raised among the group. More importantly, she realised how her team worked out by having diverse perspectives during brainstorming from teammates with different majors.
Sun and another co-founder Wang Xiaojun winning the Third Prize at the ceremony.
Failures are not fatal to Sun as long as she could bear the cost of them. She concluded time and energy would be the cost of failure, which were the two things she could sacrifice for setting forth the shared goal of her team. As a more experienced start-up founder, she encouraged students to give it a try whenever they have fascinating ideas in mind. “Only by many times of trials, we can accomplish our goal.”
Written by:
Charlotte Kwan
Year 2, Faculty of Social Sciences
January 2023