Shenzhen Named as Top 5 Start-up Hub

Shenzhen Named as Top 5 Start-up Hub

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The city is already home to a number of major tech firms, including Chinese Web giant Tencent, drone maker DJI, and smartphone manufacturer OnePlus.

“[It is a place where accelerators are eager to help you build, test, refine and make a million of something all in the same day,” writes Greg Lindsay, author of “Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next.”

“Shenzhen is increasingly attracting startups that may have previously only outsourced their manufacturing here. It has become a global magnet for hardware companies eager to learn from the world’s biggest (and often best) manufacturers of mainstream electronics.”

Lindsay singles out Haxlr8r, a Chinese-American accelerator that specializes in hardware start-ups and uses Kickstarter to build buzz and find markets for new products. By taking advantage of Shenzhen’s quick prototyping factories and testing the market before mass production, startups “win a tremendous amount of time in getting to market and avoid the costly mistakes that come with ‘parachute manufacturing,’” according to founder Cyril Ebersweiler.

One of Haxlr8r’s recent successful Kickstarter projects is Prynt, a Polaroid-style instant photo printer in the form of a phone case which attracted more than 28 times its funding target.Start-up founders have praised Shenzhen as an ideal base from which to launch their businesses. Gao Lei, chief executive of wearable device maker Betwine, said he preferred the city over Beijing and Shanghai.

“The biggest help I had from this place was the chance to meet many other people who shared my dreams. They have gone on to become my business partners,” he told the South China Morning Post.
“Giving maker spaces better places to work and making their work easier will facilitate innovation,” Gao said. “The city government aims to push entrepreneurship, and it is banking on a lot more makers and entrepreneurs to fuel the new growth engine.”

Shenzhen has held an important position in the history of China’s economic reform for the past three decades. Late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s landmark visit to southern China in 1992 eventually led to a wider opening-up of the mainland market to foreign investors. In recent years, Shenzhen achieved rapid success in attracting and fostering startups.

DJI, the world’s largest supplier of civilian drones, was founded by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology graduate Wang Tao just a few years ago. Though he wanted to start his company in Hong Kong, Tao eventually launched DJI in Shenzhen thanks to the city government’s funding and support, which he did not have in Hong Kong.

“Those willing to take the plunge and set up shop in China will discover a vast universe of technical expertise,” according to Lindsay. “Shenzhen is ground zero for technological serendipity.”Other world cities filling out the top 5 were Istanbul, Turkey; Tallinn, Estonia; Santiago, Chile; and Dubai.

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