Kazakh ophthalmologist builds award-winning eye-tech venture in Hong Kong
Kazakh ophthalmologist Mukhit Kulmaganbetov has spent five years in Hong Kong developing SLOPE, an award-winning device that screens for age-related macular degeneration. He chose Hong Kong for its innovation ecosystem, saying the city lets him combine research and entrepreneurship.
Kazakh ophthalmologist Mukhit Kulmaganbetov has spent the past five years building a medical technology career in Hong Kong, developing an award-winning screening device aimed at detecting age-related macular degeneration at an early stage.
Kulmaganbetov, co-founder and chief executive of Entoptica Limited, recently shared his journey in a promotional video by Hong Kong Talent Engage, saying the city had given him the freedom to pursue both scientific research and entrepreneurship. “Hong Kong made me fall in love at first sight. Here, I don’t have to choose between being a scientist and an entrepreneur,” he said.
Born into a family of doctors and raised in a rural village in Kazakhstan, Kulmaganbetov said he was inspired from a young age by his parents’ work in communities with limited medical resources. A personal health scare in 2016, when he faced the possibility of losing his eyesight, pushed him further toward medical research and the study of retinal neurodegenerative diseases including glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. “Combining science and technology can allow medical services to reach more people,” he said.
After completing his doctorate in the United Kingdom in 2021, Kulmaganbetov moved to Hong Kong and joined the Centre for Eye and Vision Research, a collaboration between Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Waterloo under the Health@InnoHK cluster. He later co-founded Entoptica, which developed the Structured Light Observation Perception and Evaluation, or SLOPE, device. The system uses structured-light and quantum-optics technology to screen for age-related macular degeneration through a quick, non-invasive test. According to the Hong Kong ICT Awards, it is designed to identify signs of the disease before noticeable vision loss occurs and can complete screening in about two minutes without pupil dilation.
Entoptica won the ICT Startup Grand Award at the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2025, while SLOPE also received the ICT Startup (Hardware and Devices) Gold Award. Kulmaganbetov described the device as a form of “hope,” saying earlier screening could give patients a better chance of receiving treatment before irreversible vision loss develops.
Before moving to Hong Kong, he said he had received opportunities from countries including Britain, Canada, Singapore and Japan, but chose the city for its combination of research, clinical applications, entrepreneurship and international connectivity. “I came for research, and I stayed because this is where ideas can become reality,” he said. “Hong Kong’s opportunities allow me to bring together medicine, quantum physics and data science. What the city gives us is not only funding, but a complete innovation ecosystem that can turn research into real products and genuinely help patients.”
Outside the laboratory, he said he and his wife had embraced local life, from visiting wet markets and trying neighborhood food to hiking and exploring quieter beaches. He even singled out the Cantonese minibus phrase “m̀h'gōi yáuh lohk” — used to ask the driver to stop — as an essential part of daily life. “Today, I really can’t think of any reason to leave Hong Kong,” he said.
