Mandatory Admission Criteria for Design-based Incubation Programme*
An applicant should meet the following conditions to be considered admitting as an incubatee:

• Be a start-up Hong Kong-registered company in the design industry.
• Require no more than 1,200 square feet gross of office space throughout the two-year incubation period.
• Employ at least two full-time staff working in Hong Kong
  • One of whom is a shareholder with no less than a 20% share and is a designer in a recognized design discipline, OR
  • For overseas applicants, the company must be a SME (less than 50 staff) in its country of origin and must have at least one designer from the parent company working in Hong Kong. A quota system applies to the admission of overseas companies.
• Implement design orientated activities, and cannot operate solely as a sales and marketing office, retail outlet or as a consultancy service.
• Undertake an environmentally friendly business in a professional and ethical manner, capable of operating in a studio/office environment and engage in activities that do not handle hazardous or obscene materials.
• Normally, full-time shareholders of the company will not be qualified for admission if they have previously graduated in the same field under the same design incubation programme.

*HKSTP reserves the right to revise the mandatory admission criteria without prior notice.

Qualitative Assessment Criteria

HKSTP will consider and assess applications on the following qualitative admission criteria:

1. Quality, competence and motivation of the designers
2. Quality and competence of the management team
3. Business viability
4. Innovative design potential
5. Contribution to the development of design industry in Hong Kong
6. Drive and commitment of the start-up venture.

Design Focus Areas

An applicant should engage in a design intensive business, acceptable design areas include, but not limited to:

• Product
• Fashion
• Branding/Packaging
• Jewelry
• Visual and Media Arts
• Interior

Assessment Procedure (subject to periodic review and update without prior notice)

• All applications will be processed in strict confidence.
• An application must meet the mandatory criteria stipulated by HKSTP from time to time before further assessment will be made. In general, the processing time is around 11 weeks upon received completed application.
• The application will be vetted by a Design Advisory Panel which consists of academia and industrialists in the design industry. The CEO of HKSTP is the final authority on appeals against the decision of Admission Panel. Applicants who pass the mandatory admission criteria are required to make a presentation (10 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for Q&A) to the Admission Panel which consists of the following members :

1. Senior management of HKSTP and Hong Kong Design Centre
2. Representative from School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
3. Representative from Department of Design, Hong Kong Institute Vocational Education (Shatin)
4. Representatives from the Board of Hong Kong Design Centre