If you’re a startup enthusiast you’ve probably heard the name, Hillary Yip. We are excited to announce the 14-year-old CEO as our very special speaker in this year’s Hong Kong Program.

We often refer to students who participate in the European Innovation Academy as young entrepreneurs. Who we want to introduce you to today gives the expression a whole new meaning.  Not, it’s time to meet Hong Kong’s youngest entrepreneur – Hillary Yip.

Hillary Yip: the founder of MinorMynas

How many startup ideas focused on children have you heard about? Hundreds of thousands, I guess. But, how many of them were designed by a child? Not much or none, I also guess.

Hillary Yip was 10 years old when she started her company MinorMynas. MinorMynas is a social, language-learning app with the goal to create a safe place for children to communicate, chat and make friends across borders. During our 2019 program in Hong Kong,  she will be giving a keynote about social innovation

What is social innovation and why does it matter?

Short version: Innovations that are social both in their ends and in their means. But, to make things clear, Hillary Yip will explain to us what exactly that means to her.

“I wanted to let kids from all over the world learn and exchange their languages — and make it fun, too.”

Her journey creating MinorMynas began with her mum sending her and her brother to summer camp in Taiwan to improve their Chinese, after struggling with it for years. As they had no choice but to speak in Chinese, Hillary and her brother learned the language almost overnight. She called the experience a life changer. With the idea of creating an online version of that experience she participated and won several entrepreneurship awards like the “AIA Emerging Entrepreneur Challenge 2016 1st Place and Best Business.”  

“My vision with MinorMynas is to connect the world through kids, letting us learn together as a community, making the world a better place.”

Fun fact: Hillary’s personal entrepreneurial Hero is Gary Vaynerchuk.

Apply now to join us and meet Hillary Yip in Hong Kong this summer!