The HKUST One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition is an independent brand competition originated from HKUST. The inaugural competition was held on the HKUST campus in Clear Water Bay in 2011. Since 2016, the competition has expanded to Shenzhen and other Mainland cities, setting up independent competition regions. It attracts over 1,000 startup teams annually, discovering and nurturing many teams with strong business prospects, including well-known unicorn enterprises like DJI and Yunzhou. The competition in Shenzhen region is operated by the HKUST Shenzhen platform. After years of development, the competition has gradually become a cradle for cultivating future unicorns in the Greater Bay Area led by the universities.

The competition in Shenzhen region is jointly hosted by HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute, HKUST R&D Corporation (Shenzhen) Limited, and HKUST SZ-HK Collaborative Innovation Research Institute. The competition specifically focuses on the early-stage project teams that are interested in building their entrepreneurship. Recruiting teams mainly in the fields of big data/AI, information technology, robotics/intelligent manufacturing, new materials, fintech, biomedical/healthcare, and low-carbon technology/sustainable development, etc. Since the competition launched in 2016, it has received 1,547 projects in total and has successfully incubated 8 investment cases with over 10 million valuations, as well as numerous successful industry cooperations in the post-competition period.

The competition emphasizes in-depth cooperation with the industry, partnering with pioneering enterprises to open the real demands and innovation needs for matching early-stage teams with applicable industry scenarios. Meanwhile, the competition also connects with financial and equity investment institutions, providing multi-dimensional funding support for startup teams and further developing a comprehensive innovation ecosystem platform.

In 2024, The competition in Shenzhen region will focus on strategic emerging industries and future industries, joining forces with science and technology partners in Greater Bay Area to recruit high-quality innovation projects globally. The competition will specially set up the HKUST concept verification track to explore practical paths for accelerating the commercialization of HKUST's frontier technology achievements. The competition will also invite seasoned professors, industry-leading mentors, top investment institutions, and prominent startup representatives to provide multi-dimensional guidance for participating teams. Meanwhile, Blue Bay will offer one-stop professional innovation services for outstanding teams, promoting their accelerated development and empowering entrepreneurs.