The Best of Hong Kong
Lifestyle News
Founder, Pedosa Group
Jordan Fung founded tech firm Pedosa Group in 2013, before he had even reached his teens. The tech firm partners with community organizations and enterprises using patented technologies to drive digital transformation and automation.
And this isn’t even the first venture he has under his belt. When he was 9 years old, he established an online learning platform and community called GLMET. “I’ve been learning to code for a few years prior to founding the startup, but as I was learning on my own online, I faced a lot of difficulties,” he remembers. He recruited volunteers to help him run the platform, which reached a high of 300,000 monthly users.
While GLMET is now inactive, Fung decided to take his experience in running a tech startup and go from there. “I began to build my skills in technology,” he says. He has invented patented technologies and designs — “particularly in the Internet of Things and Smart City fields.” Pedosa Group was born.
“We want technology to be everywhere but in a way that is non-intrusive, so it doesn’t get in the way of what matters most,” he explains.
Fung says he faces difficulties sometimes — and his age brings surprising logistical problems. “I can’t start a company here in Hong Kong until I’m 18.” His enterprise is registered outside of the city.
Then there is “acceptance from society. As I grew up in a Chinese-dominated local society, which values conformity rather than individuality, it is generally not encouraged to do anything ‘out of the box,’” he says. “In fact, I’ve heard quite a lot of discouraging comments over the past few years.”
He says that he hasn’t let them affect him. “Ultimately, through sharing my experiences, I hope that people will understand that every person is different and should be treated as such, so as to foster a better environment for youth innovation and entrepreneurship.”
His first job? Running GLMET.
Side hustles? Establishing the Innovators’ Society in 2016 — it’s an NGO and startup incubator for under-18s.
See the full list of The Loop HK’s 30 Under 30 Class of 2019.
Check out the highlights from the awards ceremony held on Feb 19, 2019.
