To meet the demand for the rapid economic development in Hangzhou and attract global high-tech innovative talents and entrepreneurial projects to Hangzhou, Hangzhou will host an “Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition for International Talents 2021•Hangzhou” (hereinafter referred to as "Competition"). You are cordially invited to participate in this competition. If you are interested in starting up or expending your business into China, this is a great opportunity to get know about Hangzhou as well as China in general.

The competition event has been held every year since 2015. The event has become one of main venues for Hangzhou to attract international entrepreneurs to start high tech companies in Hangzhou, one of the most beautiful and entrepreneurship-friendly booming city in China. People are calling it "Hangzhou, a Paradise for Entrepreneurs"​. Hangzhou is located near Shanghai, where the 2016 G20 Global Summit was held, and the Headquarter of E-Commerce giant Alibaba.

【Registration】

Step 1: Please submit your application through online registration site before July 12: https://tinyurl.com/2021hznc

Step 2: You will receive an email with attached application form:

(1) to fill a detailed application form;

(2) to submit non-confidential business presentation PPT; and

(3) to submit a copy of highest academic degree certificate .

Business presentation PPT (technical merits, team, business prospective, etc.) is the key material for the first-round selection.

If you were born in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, please use this announcement to sign up: https://sites.google.com/view/2021hzds-cn/

【Key Highlights】

• Amid April to October, there will be online roadshows upon requests from the applicants and approvals from the organizer.

• The first round selection will be held on August and September. The first round selection is based on the application material submitted.

• There will be around 150 teams entering the semi-finals, 30 teams entering the Final, and 12 teams entering the Grand Final for the whole competition.

• The Semi-Finals, Final and Grand Final: early November 2021 at Hangzhou, China.

• If COVID-19 is under control in early November, then the teams entering semi-final will be invited to Hangzhou for the competition, and spend several days in Hangzhou for tours and matchmaking meetings. This would be an excellent opportunity to explore and experience the business and living environments in Hangzhou and China. However, if COVID-19 is still an issue at early November, the competition will be held through online.

【Awards and Supportive Measures】

1. Awards

There will be 1 first-place prize, 4 second-place prizes, 7 third-place prizes, and 88-156 honorable mentions, and each will have ￥200,000 RMB (around USD$28K), ￥100,000 RMB (around USD $14K), ￥50,000 RMB (around USD $7K), and ￥20,000(around USD $2.8K) monetary awards respectively with no commitments needed.

2. Grants

Prize-winning startups will be granted with various amount of funds to subsidize company’s research and development expenses, such as R&D related employee compensations, equipment purchase, etc., under the condition that the company is required to register and start to operate in Hangzhou within one year after the Final.

• The First-Place Prize RMB￥5,000,000

• The Second-Place Prize RMB￥3,000,000

• The Third-Place Prize RMB￥2,000,000

• Entering the Final RMB￥1,000,000

• Entering the semi-Final RMB￥200,000

3. Venture Capital

A venture capital fund will be established specifically for the competition to fund the projects in the competition.

4. Matchmaking Meeting

The organizer will organize various matchmaking meetings for the invited applicants with industry zones or parks, local venture capital agencies, well-known enterprises, product localization teams, marketing teams, etc. at Hangzhou to find out the best-fit office location with the best financial and policy supports.

5. Mentors

The organizer will invite several international experts who have great influence in academic, industry, or venture capital as mentors. They could provide valuable entrepreneurial guidance, venture capital fund, and industrial resources for the invited projects.

There are several ways to operate a company in Hangzhou, for examples:

[1] Start a brand-new company;

[2] Start a subsidiary company for R&D, marketing, etc., while keeping the existing company at home country;

[3] Start a joint venture company with Chinese investors and business partners.

Other participating projects can also enjoy the various standard preferential support policies if the applicants can register and run company in Hangzhou.

6. Preferential Policies

Applicant's company registered in Hangzhou can enjoy the preferential policies such as tax relief, rent subsidiaries, financing guarantees, discounted loans, etc.

7. Follow-Up Services

After the company is registered in Hangzhou, the short-term free office spaces and accommodation facilities in the international industry parks will be provided based on matchmaking results and a personalized liaison will be assigned to each company. The liaison will visit the company on a regular basis to ensure the company running smoothly and getting the various incentives and preferential policies designed for the competition.

The entrepreneurial mentors and customized entrepreneurship training classes or salons will also be provided from time to time to help the team to be successful in Hangzhou.

【Objective】

The competition focuses on building a comprehensive platform that has organically integrated resources such as policies, talents, funds, industries, markets, etc. It is aiming to bring in high-tech projects for strategic emerging industries as well as for upgrading traditional industries, and so on, to further lift the urban internationalization level of Hangzhou and boost its economic restructuring and advanced technology development.

【Contestants】

The targeted participants of this international innovation and entrepreneurship competition are those international talents who were not born in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions. The applicant should have minimum bachelor's degree with entrepreneurial experiences and innovative technologies or research results with broad market prospects. The applicant should have intention to start up a company or a joint venture in Hangzhou. Please noted that those who already have their registered business entities running in Hangzhou are no longer eligible for the competition.

If you were born in in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, please use this announcement to sign up: https://sites.google.com/view/2021hzds-cn/

【Requirements】

1. The applicant can participate as an individual or a team member. For a team participation, no more than four core team members can be enrolled in the competition. When the applicant meets the entry requirements, the applicant will be eligible to enjoy the preferential policies such as the start-up grants, winner award plans, and so on that are tailored to the competition.

2. Each participating individual or team can only apply with one project.

3. The participant should own intellectual properties of the project or is legally authorized to use.

4. The applicant should provide a full and detailed business plan with technologies, market prospects, business strategies, fund requirements, the team members, sound business model, etc.

【Notes】

1. This competition does not charge any fees for the participants.

2. The participants shall not violate the rules of the competition. The team should own or is authorized to use the intellectual properties involved in the project. The submitted documentations shall not have any illegal materials such as plagiarism, misappropriation, and should follow the laws and regulation policies of applicants’ residing country, etc. Once found, the team will be disqualified or is asked to return the prize award. In case that the applicant is involved in any intellectual property disputes, the participant should bear all the responsibilities.

3. If the competition cannot be normally held due to factors such as force majeure, the organizer shall have the right to change schedule accordingly or cancel the competition.

4. The submitted documentations for the competition will be open to major enterprises and institutions in Hangzhou, various industry parks and scientific research institutions, as an effort for matchmakings and cooperation. The semi-finals and finals will be held in the form of road shows that are open to the public.

5. In principle, the participant should take full participation of all the activities involved in this competition. If the participants have any disputes with the competition, the participant should communicate with the Organizing Committee or choose to quit the competition, but the participant is not entitled to request alteration of the competition rules or the reparation for any fees incurred for attending the competition.

6. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to further supplement the rules and have the official explanation about rules of the competition.

【About Hangzhou】

Since China adopted open-door policy to the World in 1980’s, China’s economic has been grown rapidly and steadily as a 2^nd largest economic body in terms of GDP, and International companies have flooded into China to take advantage of China’s giant market and R&D resources, with the support of over 1.3 billion of population. To promote the research and development of advanced technologies in various industries, China is also implementing more and more stringent intellectual property protection laws and providing various support for international high-tech startup as well as established enterprises.

Hangzhou, a beautiful paradise city in east China around 100 miles south of Shanghai, is a historical and cultural city full of legendary stories over five thousand years. The city upheld its reputation in 2016 by achieving an economic output of 1.1 trillion yuan (160 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, becoming a new member city of the "trillion yuan" club. Its GDP per ca pita reached the same level of developed countries and its index of residents’ happiness is the highest among Chinese cities.

Hangzhou is also the city where the headquarters of e-commerce giant Alibaba is located and where the G20 Summit was held in 2016. In recent years, Hangzhou has made a name as a place for innovation and entrepreneurship and has attracted more and more international high-tech startup as well as established enterprises to setup company in Hangzhou. To make Hangzhou as a preferred home for high-tech companies, many high-tech industry parks have also been established, including international industry parks that are designed specifically for non-Chinese speaking teams, to provide very competitive integrated platforms for specifically tailored policies, tax advantages, government grants, venture capitals, living environments, etc.

【Flashback of Previous Hangzhou Startup Competition for Foreigners 】

The Start-up Competition • Hangzhou, Special Session for foreigners was started in 2018, and it was a big success. 225 high caliber international teams from 25 countries competed 30 seats for the Semi-Final and 9 seats for the Final. The 30 teams were invited to Hangzhou on July 30th to have time to visit Hangzhou's high-tech industry parks and meet with potential investors and partners before the Semi-Final and the Final. Through visits and match-making meetings, the teams have got excellent personal touch about Hangzhou, witnessed the nature beauty and modernization, and seen the ecosystem of various high-tech industry parks. Many teams have already fallen in love with Hangzhou and have expressed strong intentions to start a business there. Furthermore, through this event, teams have made friends all over the world, and some of them found good potentials as being business partners. In many senses, no matter whether winning the Final or starting up a company at Hangzhou, every team is a winner in this event! John, CEO of one of winning teams said “......If your tech startup is thinking about doing business in China, you need to seriously consider Hangzhou as your base of operations. The Chinese call Hangzhou "Heaven on Earth" and they are underselling it...for beauty and for business environment.”

In 2019, there were more than 300 international teams attended the startup competition.

【Organizer】

Hangzhou Municipal Commission of Science and Technology

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact hangzhou4startups@gmail.com . Thanks!