WAVE'S UP · EP01 — From Hack to Harbor
WAVE'S UP EP01 | From Hack to Harbor
WAVEMakers Meetup Series · EP01 · Hong Kong
Every builder hits the same gap: the demo works, the weekend is over, what's next? Credits, teammates, first users, someone who's actually done it. The distance between a winning hack and a working startup is the least documented mile in tech.
The format is simple: builders show; the harbor responds.
On July 11 in Hong Kong, that mile comes into one room: raw, early-stage projects demo live — no polish, no theater — with WAVE, AWS's startup team, AdventureX, investors, and ecosystem partners from across the Greater Bay Area.
Plus a look at the map: where AI startups are heading across China, SEA, the Middle East and the West, what Hong Kong's ecosystem actually offers an early team setting out from here.
⏰ Agenda (Sat, 11 July)
14:45–15:00Registration
15:00–15:15Opening | WAVE: global ecosystem observations & from hackathon to startup
15:15–16:00Startups & Project Sharing | 8 minutes eachSpeaker 1: Jason — CEO and Chief AI Product Architect, OlaXBT(raised US$3.38M seed round led by Amber Group)
Speaker 2: Lilian — AI-Powered Smart Force-Sensing Skin and Analysis System for Paddleboard Training
(more to come..)
16:00–16:30Sharing on Global & HK Startup Ecosystem - Trend & Support | AWS for Startups · AdventureX · HKUST MSSS · Everform
16:30-16:40Group Photo
16:40–17:00Networking
🌊 Who should come — and what you'll walk away with
If you're building something (builders, indie devs, makers) — put your project on the table: AWS's team, AdventureX's organizers and a few investors are in the room. Get the cloud-credit and model-access paths sorted in person, and meet people you could actually build with.
If you're an early-stage founder — the five demos on stage might include your next teammate, fellow traveler or competitor; AWS's up-to-US$100k credits and architect support are worth asking about face to face; a handful of investors and ecosystem partners are in the room, and we'll make introductions.
If you're an investor or ecosystem partner — five unpolished early prototypes in one evening, and the Greater Bay Area's most active young builders in one room. Far more efficient than reading decks.
If you're a hackathon regular, student or fresh graduate (HKUST, HKU, CUHK and beyond) — meet founders a few steps ahead of you, watch real early-stage demos, and see a clear path: campus project → hackathon (Hangzhou is weeks away) → first cloud credits → a company.
🌊 Event Details
Date: 11 July 2026, Saturday
Time: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Venue: AWS Office, Hong Kong
Capacity: ~50 spots. By invitation + open application. Builders first.
Co-hosted by WAVE · AdventureX · AWS
Supported by 硅星人 · BitGates · HKUST MSSS Entrepreneurship Club · Everform
WAVE is an organization connecting the global AI ecosystem headquartered in Singapore. WAVE opens with a global connector's view: watching startup ecosystems across China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the West at the same time, we'll share what we're seeing right now: where AI startups are heading, which markets are heating up, and what the path from a hackathon project to a real company actually looks like.
AdventureX is China's largest youth hackathon — the Hangzhou edition in late July expects 800+ young creators worldwide. They'll talk about builder culture, how the community works, and issue an open call: Hong Kong builders are welcome in Hangzhou.
AWS will lay out what early teams can get right now: Activate credits (from US$1,000 self-funded, up to US$100k with institutional backing, more for AI-native teams), model credits for Anthropic and other leading models on Amazon Bedrock, 1:1 solutions-architect support — and how to apply on the spot.