WHub and Angel Hub: In Tandem to Accelerate the Startup Ecosystem

WHub is a Hong Kong-based startup ecosystem accelerator, helping tech companies to scale and any stakeholder to connect with the innovative power of the ecosystem, be it talent, corporates, universities, governments, accelerators & incubators, and more. WHub is also the organizer of #SIS (Scaleup Impact Summit), the core event of the StartmeupHK Festival by InvestHK. WHub has a global network of over 500 partners , over 65,000 members and over 100 corporate clients. WHub has played a key role in promoting and developing the tech and innovation ecosystem in Hong Kong and the region. 

AngelHub is the sister platform and Hong Kong’s first tech company investment platform licensed by the SFC (local regulator) for professional investors and growth companies scaling in Asia, with its own co-investment funds. By combining the qualities of venture capitalists and angel investors, as well as leveraging strategic partnerships, AngelHub seeks to provide a professional, yet flexible, approach to startup investing. With that, why don’t you join me in learning more about WHub and AngelHub with their Co-Founder and CEO, Karena Belin.

How would you describe your career journey and why?  

I think my career journey would be best summarized by the transition from a “ladder” to a “jungle gym”. First coined by Sherryl Sandberg, this term describes well a new path of growth and self-development by going horizontally, or sometimes even what might seem stepping backwards, in order to accelerate impact and self fulfillment. I started my career at Procter & Gamble as an intern in Germany. After my double diploma program, I joined the company for a full-time position in France. I was on a FastTrack path which allowed me to experience one assignment in Sales as a Key Account Manager for one of our most important business units at the time. After 5 years in Europe, I moved to Asia, as one of the first transferees from Europe to Japan. The first phase was in Tokyo where I was responsible for a number of projects including the Gillette acquisition. A decade later, I moved to Hong Kong where I discovered my passion for the tech and innovation scene. With my friend since the Tokyo times, Karen Contet, a JP Morgan trader in exotic derivatives, I co-founded two major platforms: WHub and Angel Hub.

As you may know, there are not many female founders in the Start-up tech scene. As one of the few female founders in this field, what were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome these?

I think I face a lot of the same challenges as male founders. Entrepreneurship and being a founder of two tech companies is an incredible reward, but also challenge. Hong Kong is relatively diverse not only in startup ecosystems, but also the business sphere at large. There are great examples of leading female CEOs at major banks and big business conglomerates. Conversations can be easier with the same gender. In our commercial relations with either corporate clients or with our investors, I very often get the chance to talk to female leaders.

However, one area where the gender imbalance is still more prominent is fundraising. As a female founder, I got asked questions that male founders certainly would not get confronted with. For example, ‘are your kids or your business more important to you?’ We always advise founders to use fundraising negotiations as an opportunity for assessment on both sides. As a startup, you should say “no” to investors you do not align with and that will not be more of a liability than a support for your business. And arguably, male and female founders alike get questions that are inappropriate in a way that helps to quickly assess “this investor is not for me”. 

What motivated you to establish a startup ecosystem builder? 

At WHub, we consciously chose our tagline ‘#StartupPassion’. It was our own passion to help tech entrepreneurs make a difference, trying to solve a problem, building solutions, and scaling them. With both WHub and Angel Hub, we have the same mission statement which is all about believing that innovation and economic growth are driven by fast scaling tech companies. Supporting them in their endeavors is our “Why”.

Angel Hub focuses on one particular aspect: Investing in our future, all together. It’s not only about investing and reaping the benefits from wealth creation for us, but also helping others participate and bringing more capital to the scene. It’s about enabling all stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem to grow.    

What is WHub and what makes it unique from other startup ecosystem builders in the region?

WHub is an ecosystem accelerator, a power connector. What makes us unique is our passion and purpose of accelerating the entire ecosystem and helping those at the center, the tech companies. Helping them through a full fledge of services that we provide through our own services and through pooling all stakeholders together to tap into the innovative power of the tech ecosystem . We have a very decentralized approach in terms of accelerating companies, making them grow, and unleashing their full potential. Additionally, over a decade ago, there were only a few people as passionate as us. By now, we have grown our network of partners that work together to accelerate the startup ecosystem. Over 500 of them across the globe.

What makes Angel Hub unique is that it is the first and only SFC licensed tech investment platform for companies scaling in Asia and for professional investors that would like to benefit from this. What also makes us unique is our approach in being a highly vetted investment platform where we select the companies very thoroughly on the platform and open this up to potential investors. We also have a clear industry focus and mandate on Web3 companies, FinTech companies, and on tech solutions that are empowering the ESG agenda.

What are the different types of programs you have available? 

At WHub, we have developed a few services and flagship programs and activities that we are very proud of. One of these are our conferences. They have been under different brand names, most recently Scale Impact Summit (SIS) that is the core event of the Startup Me Up Hong Kong festival which is powered by Invest Hong Kong. The theme of our most recent SIS was ‘Universe meets Metaverse’. At the same time, we use these conferences to run programs that are part of WHub Innovation. WHub Innovation curates programs that allow more traditional companies to tap into the innovative power of the startup ecosystem and co-innovate through programs for digital transformation. These could be hackathons or open innovation challenges. For example, Hack Asia was part of SIS in 2020 and was the largest and still is the largest hackathon organized in Asia with over 40 countries and 800 participants from across the globe.  

Angel Hub is a tech investment platform where professional investors can come onboard and co-invest along with our own funds. Part of Angel Hub is also the fact that we truly want people to understand the tech industry and sectors they’re looking at and investing in. Most recently, we launched a series of whitepapers that were focused on Web3.

What are the most impactful achievements WHub has achieved?

I truly believe that the most impactful achievements are the ones that are yet to come. For WHub, our achievements are the huge conferences that we have handled, the hackathons, and open innovation challenges. Another one was our Global Startup Competition launched in 2019 where we went to 12 countries across the globe. This had over 500 startup applications and had massive traction. And arguably our trust and dedication for the tech scene at large here in Hong Kong, where we have given birth to over 20 unicorns in a short amount of time.

For Angel Hub, we’re very proud to be the only company that is accredited and licensed by the SFC. In a bit more than 2 years, we have vetted over 2,200 companies, invested into 25 and have excited 2 already with an average multiplier of x12. We allow ourselves and others to invest in companies as home-grown unicorns Animoca Brands and WeLab, and other companies beyond Hong Kong such as the SandBox, Anfin, MetaKey, BNV, Pomelo Fashion, Neoswap, Village Studio, TinyTap, Botsync, KnowYourCustomer, Avant Meats, StockViva, Pouchnation, Good on You, Adapt Ideation amongst others.

Karena Belin is the Co-Founder and CEO of WHub. She has extensive experience in the fields of finance, sales, strategy, and management. WHub’s mission is to help startups realize their full potential by providing them with the necessary resources they need to scale. It has played a key role in promoting Hong Kong as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship and has given birth to 20 unicorns. As the sister company of WHub, AngelHub is an investment platform that transforms fundraising processes into more accessible ones to reach a wider group of people by providing startups and investors with access, time, and knowledge. As the Co-Founder and CEO of WHub and AngelHub, Karena is committed to accelerating the startup ecosystem in Hong Kong and the broader region, as well as empowering investors to invest in deserving and revolutionary companies.

She is also a member of several think tanks and government steered committees in Hong Kong, Germany, and France (Member of the Board of the German Chamber of Commerce, Member of the Startup Committee of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) of the HK S.A.R., Ambassador of StartupAsiaBerlin initiative from the German Senate in Berlin, Member of the Organising Committee of the Hong Kong Innopreneur Awards of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI),  Member of the Advisory Committee of Hong Kong Baptist University, Member of the Board of Managers of Hong Kong International School, Member of the HKTDC Belt and Road & Greater Bay Area Committee, Member of the Hyderabad FinTech Forum core team and of the FinTech Association of HK). She is an international keynote speaker, judge and mentor. She has received multiple awards incl. 10 Best Female Entrepreneurs of the World award by True Global Ventures and Women of Hope Awardee. Previously, she served for 15 years at Procter & Gamble as Finance Group Manager in Europe, Northeast Asia, and Greater China.

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with WHub and AngelHub.