Let the dreams of young makers come true, and embark on a decade of entrepreneurship with peers | innovation | dreams
"Do ancient literature graduate students do artificial intelligence?" After typing this sentence on the screen, Yao Xiao smiled first. "This is the question that others ask me the most. There's no other way, I just enjoy learning new things and doing challenging things."
In the eyes of her parents, she abandoned the path of being a university teacher and chose a narrow path. But in Yao Xiao's view, establishing Shanghai Yuben Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. and becoming an entrepreneur is the most suitable path for oneself. All the difficulties encountered on the road are a test of the determination to do this.
On August 18th, the launch ceremony of the 10th "Creating Youth" Shanghai Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition of the Lingang Cup and the theme activity of supporting the construction of Shanghai's high-level talent highland were held at the Science and Technology Innovation Building in the Big Zero Bay. Many young people like Yao Xiao came to the scene.
This year, I am 10 years old in this competition. From the first 100 contestants to now, about 2000 youth entrepreneurship projects have registered for each session, attracting over 12000 entrepreneurship projects and 60000 young people in total. For the past 10 years, we have always focused on the forefront of innovative industries, helping young entrepreneurs grow their entrepreneurial projects from infancy to industry leaders. Enterprises such as Dewu and Hello Bike have all made their debut on this stage and developed into unicorns.
Ten years of peers, injecting fresh water into startups
Looking back on the competition situation, many participants mentioned it as "hot".
Chen Yunwen, Chairman of Daguan Data Co., Ltd., recalled that in 2015, he led his team to rent the first office with only about 20 square meters, founded Daguan Data, and wrote the first line of code. In 2016, he participated in the third "Youth Creation" competition with just turned one year old Daguan Data and won the third prize in the Youth Group. Through the training of the competition, Da Guan completed the transition from 0 to 1. In 2021, it was awarded the title of "Little Giant" enterprise by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for specialization, refinement, and innovation. He encouraged young people who are interested in entrepreneurship to actively participate in "Creating Youth" on site, because "this is the best stage to showcase entrepreneurial ideas."
Statistics show that in the past 10 years, the competition has focused on leveraging project aggregation and achieved remarkable results in attracting talents through scientific and technological innovation. From the Internet and the new generation of information technology to artificial intelligence, digital economy and the meta universe, from smart cities to the five future industrial directions, the track setting has always been closely linked with the development of Shanghai's industry. Among them, the proportion of high-tech enterprises, specialized and innovative small giant enterprises, and other technology-based enterprises recognized has been increasing year by year. Last year, nearly 80% of the participating enterprises were technology-based enterprises.
Ye Jianfeng, CEO of Shanghai Zhisheng Technology Co., Ltd., has been entrepreneurial for 3 years, focusing on technology research and application in the field of neuroscience. "Starting a business in Shanghai may have a higher starting threshold than other places, but as long as the project quality is good enough, there will be many opportunities and platforms for future development." Ye Jianfeng said that when financing, he needs to see many funds, which is very inefficient. He has always hoped to find high-level investors directly through some channels, so that the company can grow faster.
After participating in the "Youth Creation" competition, they received relevant assistance. In terms of financial support, award-winning projects can receive cash rewards every year; At the same time, priority will be given to providing support for eligible participating enterprises in areas such as a million dollar sailing loan and capital docking.
"In terms of investment and financing, this year we have relied on the member groups of the Youth League to mobilize banks to provide centralized credit for start-up enterprises." The relevant person in charge of the Youth League Municipal Committee introduced that "the Youth League Municipal Committee and the Youth League Municipal Federation will recommend outstanding award-winning young entrepreneurs to join the Youth League Association and other member groups. Entrepreneurs can also apply to participate in centralized credit service projects while being absorbed by the organization."
The Youth League Municipal Committee also relies on 152 "Dream Creation Workshop" youth centers in the city to provide innovation and entrepreneurship resources for enterprises, covering policy implementation, project cultivation, market investment, and ability development. It also provides comprehensive services such as employee accommodation, talent recruitment, office space and equipment, legal and financial affairs, software applications, etc. to meet the needs of talents, venues, and funds for enterprises.
Focusing on the industry, allowing young makers to shine
"At the beginning, most people thought this technology was unbelievable. In order to let more people understand this technology, we basically introduced it to customers one by one, and I talked about hundreds of customers myself." Wang Yi, the founder of Shanghai Anban Information Technology Co., Ltd., is a "post-95s" who founded the company during his college years. The intelligent fuzzy testing tool he developed can accurately locate defects, improve software security and stability.
Their biggest difficulty is due to advanced technology, which few people understand. After participating in the competition, they linked more online and offline promotional channels, which gave them the opportunity to expose themselves on more platforms. "Through the competition, our company's brand influence has been expanded to a certain extent, and more people have known about us and recognized our technology." Wang Yi said that in addition, the Youth League Municipal Committee has also leveraged the advantage of connecting with young people, proposing to recommend students majoring in information security and computer science from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and East China Normal University for internships or interviews.
"We hope that the 'Chuangqingnian' platform can not only 'gather projects', but also play a role in' gathering talents' and 'recommending talents'. The relevant person in charge of the Youth League Municipal Committee introduced that high-quality projects will be given priority to be recommended to participate in the youth group semi-finals of the' Gathering Talents from the Sea 'Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and the 50 Youth Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Sea. Young entrepreneurial projects with sufficient development potential and high growth expectations, as well as young entrepreneurs, will be focused on development and training.".
As the "Youth Creation" contestants move from the "incubation period" to the in-depth field of industry, entrepreneurial products continue to provide new ideas for social livelihood and economic development.
Wang Daoyu, the founder of Zhuodao Medical, is a post-90s person who founded Zhuodao Medical at the age of 25. He is committed to using robot assisted technology and intelligent human-computer interaction technology to help patients recover their health and return to society. Wang Daoyu and his companions participated in the 7th "Creating Youth" competition and won first prize. They are also constantly developing on the competition platform and now have a team of over 200 people. Although the average age is less than 27 years old, it is already a backbone of the rehabilitation industry.
In order to provide a more exciting stage for youth innovation and entrepreneurship, the track setting of the 10th Youth Entrepreneurship Competition focuses more on future industries and startups, with a focus on growth oriented enterprises. Through the competition, the policies of various committees and offices supporting science and technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and talent highland construction will be integrated, and industrial linkage will be strengthened. With the support of key industrial parks such as Lingang Group and Dalio Bay, deep cooperation will be carried out in project recommendation, landing resources, talent rewards, and other aspects to jointly create a good environment for young people in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Looking to the future, gather like-minded entrepreneurs
In the 9th competition, Shenpu Technology, which deeply cultivates privacy computing technology, won first prize. "In this competition, I gained a lot, with the help of the Youth League Municipal Committee, the friendship of entrepreneurial partners, and opportunities for cooperation." Founder Zhu Wenwei said, "I used to feel that entrepreneurship was very lonely, but now I realize that entrepreneurship is not about working behind closed doors, but a group of like-minded people gathering together to do meaningful things."
Zhu Wenwei had previously attempted to create a smart earphone, but the project was halted after six months of progress. But he also drew strength from failure to grow. "My original intention for participating in the 'Creating Youth' competition was to have more exposure to the market and entrepreneurs." Zhu Wenwei was pleased to have participated in this competition because the roadshow had just ended when a participating entrepreneur in SaaS system services took the initiative to contact him. Soon after, the two sides reached a cooperation intention. "Thanks to this platform, outstanding entrepreneurs from various fields can gather together and engage in in-depth communication, which broadens our horizons and opens up opportunities for cooperation."
For Yao Xiao, one of the happiest things is undoubtedly becoming good partners with many founders of entrepreneurial enterprises in the competition. "The Youth League Municipal Committee often contacts me to introduce us to the national and Shanghai's talent policies. Many of them were previously unknown to us. Recently, we have also applied for some policy subsidies, including talent subsidies, rent and social security subsidies, high-tech enterprise subsidies, research and development investment subsidies, and so on."
From a bachelor's degree in Chinese language and literature, to a master's degree in ancient literature from the Qin, Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties, and then to a doctoral degree in literature from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, according to the established track, this Tongcheng girl should become a university teacher. But during her doctoral studies at Fudan University, her internships at international schools and technology companies helped her establish her entrepreneurial ideas. "I targeted the field of artificial intelligence from the beginning because I felt it was very promising. I did a lot of homework and chose the industrial field. I was also fortunate to have met a great technical team, and our ideas matched very well."
As an industrial safety and visual inspection intelligent product and AIoT industrial cloud service provider, "Yuben" has independently developed a series of core products such as industrial safety eyes, industrial detection eyes, and intelligent cloud platforms since its establishment for more than three years, and has passed the national high-tech enterprise certification. Yao Xiao said that this is the calmness brought to her by classical literature, and she is not in a hurry to do anything. "Jade is a determined jade, and Ben is a colorful company. I hope that Yu Ben is a low-key and powerful company, where prosperity and downfall reveal true simplicity. It is not just about external glamour, but also about internal quality."
After ten years, the Shanghai Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition has also been constantly breaking through. This year, while recruiting entrepreneurial projects with development intentions in Shanghai for the whole country, the competition has also established a special track for overseas talents. It aims to build a platform for young talents with overseas learning, work, and entrepreneurial backgrounds to showcase research results, share technological innovation, and exchange entrepreneurial projects. Under the guidance of the United Front Work Department of the Municipal Party Committee, the "Creating Youth" Shanghai Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Camp will also be held to further empower young entrepreneurial talents.
