What does it really take to build a startup from nothing, and scale it internationally?

In this episode, Antoine Kuhnast, Founder & CTO of Safehear, shares the unfiltered story behind building a deep tech hardware company, starting as a student with no funding, no network, and no clear roadmap.

Through pitching, failures, and real-world testing, he transformed a personal problem into a scalable industrial solution, before expanding from France to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

🎧 You’ll learn: • How to go from idea to first traction without resources

• How to test a new market before committing resources

• What early-stage founders often get wrong about product development

• The real differences between Europe and Asia in business execution

• Why “expanding too fast” can destroy your startup

• Why the GBA is a game-changer for hardware startups

A practical episode for founders navigating the hard truth of hardware industrialization.

Connect with the Guest:

• Antoine Kuhnast (Founder/CTO of Safehear)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinek-startup/

Connect with the Host:

• Fiona Yeung (Community Lead, La French Tech Hong Kong - Shenzhen)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionayeung/

Going global sounds exciting, but where do you actually start?

Going global is no longer about connections. It’s about data, tools, and execution. In this episode, Fiona Yeung sits down with Kelsey Ngai, Senior Marketing Executive (now Partnership Manager) at Alibaba.com, to unpack how SMEs can expand globally without relying on assumptions, guesswork, or trial and error.

Drawing on her experience in cross-border e-commerce, Kelsey explains how businesses can use buyer signals, market data, and practical execution to choose the right markets, improve visibility, and create a more efficient route to growth. From Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to France and beyond, this conversation offers a grounded view of what it takes to scale internationally.

This is not theory. It’s a practical, step-by-step framework used by thousands of businesses already scaling across 200+ markets.

What You’ll Discover:

• How to validate demand before entering a new market• Why the right market is not always the biggest market

• How to generate qualified leads in international e-commerce

• Why trust, not price, is the real driver of cross-border success

• How to use data, AI, and logistics to scale more efficiently

• Post-sale strategies to turn one-time buyers into long-term partners

Whether you’re just starting or already exporting, this episode gives you clear, actionable moves you can apply immediately.

A tactical conversation for entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals who want to build a smarter cross-border e-commerce strategy.

Connect with the Guest:

• Kelsey Ngai (Senior Marketing Executive, Alibaba.com)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-ngai-1b5704104/

Connect with the Host:

• Fiona Yeung (Community Lead, La French Tech Hong Kong - Shenzhen)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionayeung/

Hong Kong is entering a new fintech era, and Peggy Kwok, Senior Vice President, Fintech at Invest Hong Kong, breaks down what founders, investors, and institutions need to know now. From Hong Kong’s next-generation data and payment infrastructure to responsible AI adoption, tokenisation, and cross-border connectivity, Peggy shares how the city is positioning itself as a future-ready fintech hub.

What You’ll Discover: • What Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem looks like today, and which sub-sectors are growing fastest • How the city’s stablecoin, tokenisation, and digital asset roadmap is evolving • What fintech founders need to understand before entering Hong Kong or the GBA • How InvestHK helps firms with licensing, partnerships, and market expansion

If you are building a fintech company, investing in fintech, or planning regional expansion, this conversation gives you a clear view of where opportunity is opening up and what to prepare for.

Connect with the Guest:

• Peggy Kwok (Senior Vice President, Fintech, Invest Hong Kong)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggy-kwok-51862030/

Connect with the Host:

• Fiona Yeung (Community Lead, La French Tech Hong Kong -Shenzhen)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionayeung/