A Game Changer Finds Hong Kong the Ideal Place for Expansion

After securing a new round of seed funding, cloud-based collaboration platform and game engine Area28 Technologies sets to grow its Hong Kong headquarters and scale up operation in various game hubs in Asia.

We target to scale our product in Mainland China and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong’s position is right in the centre, which allows us to recruit team members in the region.

Tony Zander
CEO, Area28 Technologies

Remote work has become a rising global trend from startup to corporates. Finding a tool that can facilitate virtual team collaboration has become vital across industries - game design and development is no exception. Area28 Technologies is a cloud-based real time collaborative software that empowers game development and multimedia content production teams to integrate and compile code testing continuously and conduct same-scene edits, enhancing efficiency significantly.

“Our product allows teams to work from anywhere in the world in a real-time fashion without having the need to be at the same location, but still gain those efficiencies of communication and iteration,” explained Tony Zander, CEO of Area28 Technologies. The company strives to be a one-stop shop solution for game development and content co-creation with a services-oriented marketplace, and high-performance multicore native runtimes. The tool is also used by teachers and students from the School of Design in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to conduct online teaching and learning during the pandemic. The company believes there is huge potential for their solution in the education sector.

Scaling up in Asia with Hong Kong headquarters

Area28 initially started with a small team in Hong Kong that eventually grows into a headquarters, managing a large outsourced and freelance staff around the world. “We are looking to scale up the effort we put in Hong Kong and develop the leadership and technology aspects here,” Zander remarked.

The company chose Hong Kong to set up its headquarters for a number of reasons. “We target to scale our product in Mainland China and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong’s location is right in the centre, which allows us to recruit team members in the region. We also plan to use Hong Kong as the soft landing for our international team, and slowly move them into different parts of Mainland China,” Zander said.

“Like many international corporates, we enjoy the low and simple tax regime and the ease of setting up here in Hong Kong. The city is also beneficial for us doing business in Mainland China because of its proximity,” Zander said, adding that the company also takes advantage of the city’s rich history in film production to partner with local film companies, such as Salon Films and Digital Domain.

Strong network of VCs and angel investors

Area28 has recently secured a seed funding led by various venture capitals including Vectr Ventures and Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. Zander revealed that the company will use the new fund to build up their thought leadership and R&D centre in the Hong Kong headquarters. He added, “We are also expanding into Mainland China, with a focus in Chengdu which has a large game hub, and looking at Southeast Asia such as Vietnam and the Philippines, which are two up-and-coming game hubs in the region.”

“InvestHK offers soft landing support, helping us get plugged into the ecosystem. There is also a strong investor network in the city. A young team would be able to find everything from angel investors all the way up to series type funding all within Hong Kong. It’s a great city for startups,” Zander concluded.

07.04.2021

Fast Facts

  • Founded in 2017 with headquarters in Hong Kong
  • Cloud-based collaboration platform and game engine suitable for online games, multimedia content co-creation and collaborative works

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07.04.2021
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