So, Tell Us, What Does Gekko Actually Do?
Gekko is a data company. It tracks the Hong Kong capital markets, listed company activity, corporate actions, announcements and IPO prospectuses, and organises all of it into a single database. A set of tools sits on top of that database and gives users a way in.
Founder Ric Cheng started the company in 2017, at a point when almost nobody was putting AI in a product pitch. Gekko described itself as a fintech business then and has since rebranded around legal tech and AI. The underlying work has not changed.
What changed was the audience.
“Our product was initially aimed at banking and finance. But the finance industry is forward looking, and we were building a database of historical events.”
Lawyers look in the other direction. The majority of Gekko’s users are now non-litigation lawyers, the solicitors taking companies public and the teams working through the regulatory detail around them. When a firm has an IPO project, it will pull every comparable deal from the past and use them to push its case with the regulator. Precedent is the product.
Ric came to this from the other side of the table. He spent the early part of his career in investment banking before moving into technology, a decision he describes as financially poor and otherwise correct.
“I wanted to get my hands dirty. It turned out much harder than I thought. But somehow I survived, through the ups and the downs.”
What Brought You to Garage Society?
Gekko spent around seven years at Cyberport and did not move until last year.
“The view was great and the environment was great. Location was why we left. Once you are past the incubation stage you need to be closer to clients, and you need somewhere your team can get to easier”
The rent gap played its part too. When Gekko started, the difference between Cyberport and Island North was significant. That gap has narrowed considerably in recent years, which made the decision easier.
Garage Society Causeway Bay was not the only space they looked at. The team viewed several operators across the district, and came close to signing elsewhere before someone took the floor first. The Hong Kong flexible workspace market has seen a lot of consolidation, and the team wanted an operator with a stable footing rather than a name that had recently changed hands.
Give Us a Fun Fact About the Team
The name comes from Gordon Gekko, the trader played by Michael Douglas in Wall Street. In the first film he goes to prison for insider dealing. In the sequel he comes out and ends up working alongside the regulators rather than against them. Gekko’s first customer was a financial regulator in Hong Kong.
The team also registered gekko.ai roughly a decade ago, well before .ai domains became expensive and fashionable.
Where Do You See the Industry Heading?
Ric’s view is that engineers built AI and are among the first to be disrupted by it. Development inside Gekko has changed accordingly. Highly specialised roles are giving way to what he calls the super engineer, one person expected to cover ground that used to be split across several.
“Those who are able to train up or manage a super engineer will survive. Otherwise you need to maintain a huge workforce that is not running very efficiently.”
There is a second order effect that many technical founders are now weighing. When a working product can be assembled in a day, the harder problems move elsewhere, into brand, communication and the business of being properly understood.
Tracking Hong Kong Capital Markets? Visit Gekko
Gekko’s database covers listed company activity, corporate actions, announcements and IPO prospectuses, with tools built for the legal and finance professionals who need to search it.
Get in touch with Gekko to find out more.
Want to Work Alongside Teams Like Gekko?
Our Causeway Bay coworking space (link to /location/causeway-bay) spans two floors of Tower 535 and is home to startups, SMEs and regional teams like Gekko, people doing meaningful work and building things worth being proud of.
Whether you are looking for a dedicated desk, a private office, or simply a smarter way to establish your business in Hong Kong with a virtual office, we would love to show you around.
Get a quote for our Causeway Bay space, or drop us a message and we will take it from there.
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Ric Cheng, Founder of Gekko, interviewed by James Bernardo, Garage Society
