Advancing a Vision: A Macau Doctor’s Semiconductor Ambition
December 20, 2023, marks a significant milestone – the 24th anniversary of Macau’s reunification. Commemorating this event, Dr. Aglaia Kong, CEO and CTO of LeapFive Technology, was featured in an interview by Zhuhai Special Zone Daily, discussing her journey as a female doctor from Macau in the semiconductor industry. Selected excerpts from the interview highlight her journey:
On the evening of December 12, 2023, when Guangdong Province announced its list of specialized and innovative SMEs, Dr. Aglaia Kong was strategizing at the Hengqin – Macau Youth Entrepreneurship Valley office for the Macau National Innovation Center’s new Hengqin facility. Her schedule is a testament to her unwavering commitment.
Tracing back to New Year’s Day 2022, Dr. Kong, having recently embarked on her entrepreneurial venture after returning to China, was invited by the Hengqin Cooperation Zone’s investment team to assess the area’s industrial prospects. She was notably impressed by the comprehensive industrial infrastructure at the Hengqin – Macau Youth Entrepreneurship Valley.
“The research and development environment in Hengqin is exceptional,” noted Dr. Kong. The region’s proximity to Hong Kong and Macau ensures swift access to cutting-edge international industrial information. It’s a hub for research, with centers affiliated with the University of Macau, Macau University of Science and Technology, and Fudan University, alongside a burgeoning cluster of sci-tech enterprises, making collaborative research more feasible.
This experience sowed the seeds for Dr. Kong’s pursuit of Hengqin. Introducing Hengqin’s “dual 15%” tax incentives, the inaugural integrated circuit support policy, and policies favoring Macau demonstrated to Dr. Kong the burgeoning potential of the Cooperation Zone. In June, she strategically relocated LeapFive Technology’s headquarters to the zone, nurturing her vision with these supportive policies.
Focusing on sectors like smart energy, logistics, urban planning, and intelligent manufacturing, LeapFive Technology harnesses AI, IoT, and blockchain technologies. The company has developed SoC chip products and comprehensive solutions based on the RISC-V open-source instruction set architecture. LeapFive has launched two chip models, enhancing AIoT sensing and edge computing capabilities, thus energizing innovative applications in the digital economy sectors of Macau and Hengqin.
Positioned merely a bridge away, the Cooperation Zone offers Macau’s entrepreneurs a vast platform to realize their aspirations and demonstrate their expertise. In August, LeapFive Technology was selected for the premier group of enterprises in the Cooperation Zone’s listing cultivation program. More recently, it was recognized as one of the specialized and innovative SMEs in Guangdong Province for 2023.
