Global Launchpad: Strengthening Hong Kong’s Social Impact Entrepreneurs

“Joining Global Launchpad gave us the frameworks, coaching, and honest reflection we needed to move from an impactful pilot to a model that can grow—without losing the depth of connection that makes it work.”

After over a month of hard work, development, and reflection, this was one of the sentiments from Hong Kong-based social enterprise SONOVA. Looking to enhance and expand its impact, SONOVA joined this year’s Global Launchpad program.

Global Launchpad is a six-week training program for social entrepreneurs offered by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation and the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Offered every three years and run by program faculty director Waverly Deutsch, adjunct professor of entrepreneurship, this year’s program brought together 12 social impact startup teams for a series of high-touch workshops and coaching sessions with UChicago faculty and other experts such as Brian Tsui, MBA '11, Christine Yu, MBA ’13, and Miranda Wong, MBA ’22. 

The program culminated in Demo Day, an event where the teams shared their ventures with experts, local stakeholders, and potential investors. 

This year’s participants represented the expansiveness of the Hong Kong social impact community, providing solutions addressing youth education and elderly wellness, women’s reproductive health, expanding care for neurodiverse children, counseling services, sustainability, and much more.

The 2026 Global Launchpad cohort included: 93m.style, CantoGather Education Limited, Change Nails, Edge Development Centre, Good Period, HealingTalk, LittleUrbanMountain, Metta Asia, SONOVA,  Street Law Hong Kong, Upeeling, and V Visionary Design Studio. 

This Demo Day, the teams pitched their ideas to over 130 impact investors, family office and foundation leaders, startup incubators, bankers, social enterprise and NGO founders, and supporters. SONOVA joined the program to refine and grow its initiative We Are All Newbies of Life, which uses Cantopop music as a tool for social emotional learning among students. The organization went on to win the audience award for Greatest Potential for Social Impact.

A few other highlights and takeaways from the day include:

The Global Language
Among the 12 organizations in the 2026 cohort, CantoGather was the only nonprofit in the group. The organization works with primary school students on developing language and intercultural competence to create an inclusive environment. CantoGather offers extracurricular activities such as storytelling, art creation, games, and events to educate students on the diversity and cultural richness of their communities.

Judges acknowledged that the CantoGather team utilized effective metrics to measure their impact, but they also encouraged the organization to think in broader terms: What does an inclusive school look like to them, and what are the benefits of that? 

As of 2025, CantoGather has worked with eight schools, and hopes to hone and grow its education model. “The past six weeks have sharpened how we think about our model, our growth, and how we communicate our impact. We're walking away with new tools, new perspectives, and a clearer roadmap for what comes next.”
 
A Silent Problem
According to Good Period CEO Olivia Cotes-James, one in 10 women and girls in Hong Kong experience period poverty—relying on donations to receive the products they need. In order to combat this disparity, the company provides long-lasting, reusable period underwear, menstrual health education, and subsidized period products. By working with corporate partners and providing their workforce with period product amenities, Good Period is able to fund their community outreach programs.

Deutsch encouraged the Good Period team to keep their profit and pricing a priority: "You have a big mission. You need to make more money." Cotes-James acknowledged the advice, and the occasionally conflicting aspects of it. “We've grown up associating profit with shareholder greed and extractive capitalism,” she said, “That association isn't always wrong, but social enterprise exists to show that profit can be something else entirely. Profitability is what gives purpose staying power.”

Treats Instead of Trash
The last presentation of the day came from Upeeling, which turns surplus and imperfect fruit, mainly pineapples, into packaged snacks. The business was created to mitigate the over 3,000 tons of fruit sent to the landfill daily in Hong Kong while also offering a nutritious snack to adults who are lacking fruits and vegetables in their diets. “I love that sustainability is a bonus, not the core product positioning statement,” said Deutsch. 

Judges also asked Kaylini Naidoo, the Upeeling founder, how she plans to measure the success of her company. “Success does look different to everyone,” she said, “Based on the reason I started Upeeling, for me, success would be diverting food from landfills in Hong Kong. Coming from South Africa, where there is so much poverty, we don’t have a lot of food waste.”

Naidoo finished with a powerful sentiment: “Even though I might be starting small, I think small changes or small impact can eventually grow.”

To watch all the teams pitch their ventures and share the progress made over the six-week journey, you can watch a video recap from Demo Day here. 

About The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation provides resources and programs to help the city’s nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), nonprofit leaders, and social entrepreneurs do their best work. Operated by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Programme offers a range of opportunities, including scholarships, social entrepreneurship workshops, and training for NGO boards of directors.