Startup contest a 'magic golden bridge' for talent

Updated: 2014-01-07 10:57

By Chang Jun in Santa Clara (China Daily USA)

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The best and the brightest entrepreneurs of Chinese origin and innovative spirit competed in the 4th North America Chinese Startup and Talents Summit on Sunday with 20 projects ranging from Big Data, wearable medical devices, mobility and automation.

The purpose of the competition, according to Wu Ping, president of the US-China Association of High-level Professionals (UCAHP), the main organizer, is to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among the overseas Chinese community, recognize high-tech talent and provide a platform through which talent can meet investors and mentors.

With a gigantic banner reading "Dream Big, Innovate Future" as the backdrop, finalists spent five minutes demonstrating the essence of their ideas and impress the panel of judges, most of whom were veteran venture capitalists and seasoned industry leaders.

The 20 finalists have been filtered through three rounds of screenings in five sub cities - Seattle, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley - since late October.

People from across the US, Canada and China packed the 1,000-seat auditorium, with some standing in the back listening through the whole-day event.

The grand prize went to Liu Yang, a Michigan-based researcher whose next generation energy harvesting chip and self-powered sensing system he claimed could be used for surgical cancer treatment, won overwhelming support from the judges based on the solid development of the project and its readiness for scalable market production.

Liu said he was thrilled when he learned he was the winner. "The tedious years of hard work paid off," he said. "The organizer provides each contestant the opportunity to learn from forerunners of the industry, and more important, the mentorship."

"It's been another good year for us," said Kong Dehai, general secretary of UCAHP, adding that the quantity of pitches and final projects this year were both on an upward trend and spreading into different areas, several cross-disciplinary.

The UCAHP platform is now a "magic golden bridge", said Kong, adding his organization now serves as a matchmaker between talent in the US and investors and industrial parks in China.

Experts from national technology and innovation industry parks sit on the judging panels, seeking the right programs to invest in and offer policies and fiscal incentives to lure talent to return to China.

"Our contest provides a complete ecosystem which connects technology innovation, talent, market and capital all together for entrepreneurs," said Kong.

"We are impressed to see the surging passion for innovation and creation in the Silicon Valley," said Xu Yongji, the education counsel at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, citing Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech on Oct 21 at the 100th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Western Returned Scholars Association in Beijing.

When speaking to about 3,000 attendees, Xi called on the overseas-educated students and scholars, whether at home or abroad, to contribute to realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. "You are warmly welcomed if you return to China," Xi Said. "If you stay abroad, we support you in serving the country in various ways."

China began to send students and scholars to study abroad a century ago. By the end of 2012, about 2.64 million Chinese had been studying abroad, among whom 1.09 million returned, according to the Ministry of Education.

In the past three years, the UCAHP evaluation committee has screened more than 1,000 projects from 5,000 applicants of Chinese origin. Chinese industrial parks have adopted more than 100 of them.

junechang@chinadailyusa.com

 Startup contest a 'magic golden bridge' for talent

Liu Yang, grand prize winner of the North America Chinese Startup and Talent Summit on Sunday, is greeted by Xu Yongji (right), education council of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, with veteran venture capitalists Wu Ping (second from left) and Ni Zhengdong (left) looking on. Chang Jun / China Daily

(China Daily USA 01/07/2014 page2)

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