Discover HKBU
HKBU student startup ULinks connects students to campus life
30 Sep 2026
In the 2026-27 academic year, HKBU welcomed a new cohort of over 2,900 undergraduate students, with a record-high intake of more than 840 non-local freshmen. As growing numbers of students from around the world choose to study in Hong Kong, helping them quickly adapt to campus life, build social networks and navigate daily routines has become a key part of the “Study in Hong Kong” brand.
From studying abroad to social integration
The HKBU startup team ULinks, comprising nine students from diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds, aims to help non-local students seamlessly integrate into campus life. By addressing subtle yet impactful needs, the team created an integrated social and service platform that offers campus information, peer interaction and lifestyle support, making an unfamiliar campus feel like home.
“What we create aren’t just functional features, but real life experiences for students,” says Larry Zhou Zixuan, a fourth-year Business Computing and Data Analytics student and ULinks team member. The team believes that ULinks will be more than a communication tool – it aims to be the go-to resource whenever students face challenges on campus.
Connecting from students’ needs
Through in-depth interviews with both local and non-local students, the team discovered that the demand for campus connections is far more urgent than expected. Whether seeking help on pre-registration, finding project groupmates, trading secondhand items, booking storage services when moving out of residence halls, or simply making new friends, all of these needs rely on student-to-student connections.
For non-local students, arriving in Hong Kong also means facing language barriers, a faster pace of life, and cultural differences. Team member Woo Yong-ju, a third-year Finance student from South Korea, notes that international and exchange students face three primary hurdles, such as inefficient information flow, unfamiliarity with new environment, and a lack of local social networks.
To bridge these gaps, ULinks offers an inclusive, student-led space equipped with an AI-powered one-click translation feature that break down language barriers and allow students to communicate effortlessly. “ULinks provides a decentralised platform where students can freely express themselves, discuss and make friends,” Larry adds.
Currently serving HKBU students via university email verification, the platform offers functions such as information sharing, teammate matching and marketplace trading. Within months of its launch, it has accumulated over 1,000 registered users, with about 40 percent being local students, effectively fostering cross-cultural interaction across campus.
From online connections to real-world services
ULinks also extends its reach beyond online interactions. Over the summer, the team partnered with SF Supply Chain to launch a luggage storage service that catered directly to residence hall students moving out during the holidays.
Since some traditional storage options may be inconvenient or expensive, ULinks has transformed user feedback into a tailored service, ultimately handling nearly 400 boxes of luggage for about 130 students. Joe Zhang Zheng-han, a fourth-year Business Computing and Data Analytics student who oversees team operations, says: “The biggest challenge was designing a rigorous workflow on a tight schedule while balancing final exams, and coordinating communication among the corporation, the University and the students. We realised that entrepreneurship isn’t just about good ideas; it is more about transforming that idea into a viable service. Every detail from process design, risk management to building stakeholder trust counts.”
Additionally, ULinks collaborated with Amap to launch Hong Kong’s first student exclusive travel discount on campus, offering HKBU students ride-hailing discount to facilitate travel between campus, residence halls and various districts in Hong Kong.
StarHub nurtures a diverse team’s growth
The platform’s rapid growth has been driven by HKBU’s comprehensive career support. The team received HK$20,000 in seed funding for platform development and promotion through the University’s “Start-up Saturday” competition. Guidance from advisors at StarHub, HKBU’s first career support and incubation hub for students, has also played a crucial role to their growth. At the outset, advisors from StarHub encouraged the team to dive deep into real-life campus scenarios to validate their core value proposition. This insight prompted them to conduct extensive research, identifying the pain points of campus life and shaping their service positioning.
Despite the pressures of studies, corporate internships, and project operations, the team remains dedicated to driving the project forward. The team continues to use StarHub’s co-creation space for collaboration, consult regularly with advisors on business strategy and explore more partnership opportunities.
From campus startup to serving more students
Looking ahead, the team plans to consolidate the user community at HKBU before gradually expanding to other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. They also intend to collaborate with student organisations, alumni associations and corporate partners to extend online connections into richer offline activities and services. Their ultimate goal is not merely user growth, but ensuring every student coming to Hong Kong finds reliable information, practical help, and lifelong friends.
Larry advises fellow students interested in starting their own businesses, “In the era of AI, ideas are not scarce. What truly matters is bringing ideas to market for validation, identifying real problems, and iterating rapidly. Only then can creativity transform into a startup project with true market value.”