Why I do recommend Ping An Cloud Accelerator Program for international and China-based early-growth stage startups
An ambitious program with a supportive team and outstanding resources
The purpose of the accelerator is to prepare and help startups from all over the world establish fruitful connection with both Ping An and SparkLabs’ outstanding networks and resources, accelerate their growth in their respective geographic markets, and possibly enter or deeper their roots into the Chinese market.
Ping An has a very wide range of activities. Thanks to the support of the Accelerator, we were able to understand and access Ping An complex yet very rich ecosystem. In the 1st phase of the program, we set joint prioritized goals and shortlisted several companies within Ping An Group to develop opportunities, and expand our business and technology. Ping An has a leading position in insurance, a strong innovation capabilities and a growing influence on other banks and insurers. All that make it an attracting business partner for a health insurtech start-up like The CareVoice. As a start-up, it’s unique to have a big corporate actor’s help and resources available to design potential improvements and deals that are within reach. During the whole accelerator program, weekly follow-ups ensured that the collaboration projects were managed proactively, with regular action items and methodological feedback from our side and the Accelerator’s team. Thanks to their “insider” position, they helped a great deal in facilitating discussion and triggered unique exposure of CareVoice within Ping An.
Moreover, one of the Accelerator’s great strength is the mentorship. We had the chance to be mentored by inspiring insurance executives, knowledgeable about entrepreneurship, insurance and tech, not only from Ping An but also from other insurance companies. Their strong support and good advice were very precious for us. For instance, they helped us to strengthen the concept of StartupCare, the very first health benefit and insurance for startups in China. And they helped preparing its spin-off as a new company dedicated to insurance for startups and benefits for their teams. Nina Zhou, Moray MacLennan, Colin Qu — big thanks for your support over the Accelerator and also post-program!
Numerous results for The CareVoice, and more to come!
In the course of the program, our team worked on 13 different projects from over 4 different Ping An entities (Ping An Health, Ping An Life, Ping An Tech, Ping An Good Doctor), resulting already in great outcomes!
We set the basis to partner with Ping An Tech to implement its facial recognition technology. This secures the identity verification process on our SaaS before insured members seek care and claim for reimbursement. We validated our blockchain roadmap and, more importantly, our first blockchain-based feature, eligibility verification! We have also used Ping An Cloud service to launch our brand new Hong Kong platform.
We signed a distribution agreement so that Ping An Tech sales team can promote our SaaS to relevant banks and insurers. We have already kicked-off this initiative, conducted first training and got first leads! That’s a great recognition from an innovative insurance player like Ping An aiming to influence other financial institutions by spreading its own and partnered technologies!
The final milestone of the program — the amazing Demo Day held in Shenzhen mid-October — was both the occasion to celebrate our achievements but also harvest the first results . Indeed, I pitched the company and the progress we had made during the program. Thanks to Ping An and SparkLabs networks, many insurance-related players and investors were there. This was definitely a great opportunity to showcase our growth and engage with potential investors for our recently kicked-off financing round.
Last but not least, since Demo Day, the Accelerator’s team — both from Ping An Cloud and SparkLabs — has been following up and regularly reaching out either to get feedback on the projects set during the program or opening new opportunities. For instance, I have been invited to pitch during the SparkLabs Korea Demo Day held in Seoul mid-December — very exciting! Moreover, we are currently shaping a partnership between Ping An Cloud to cross sell and bundle StartupCare with Ping An Github offers, and so provide startups with comprehensive and attractive offers.
Hence, this program has already been very productive and helped CareVoice in many ways, but it’s not over yet. We did build a strong relationship with Ping An and the Accelerator teams, and there are a lot of positive results still to come!
What I advise to founders to maximize their experience
Here are few points I’d like to highlight if you are going through this program — or if you are planning to.
- Corporate accelerators can sometimes be depicted as not consistent with startups’ spirit and organization. In my experience, the Accelerator’s team and organization has been very agile, matching CareVoice’s pace and understanding our short- and long-term objectives. Getting the resources from such a big and dynamic actor on the Chinese market, through the Accelerator’s dedicated team, is an absolutely unique opportunity.
- The exposure the program gives to its cohorts is unique. I would definitely advise to maximize the value you can get from the opportunities, your mentors and the potential investors you come across. You and your senior management team should be very active from Day 1! As a general rule, you receive what you give! If you want to quickly identify relevant opportunities, do your homework, have and test assumptions with Ping An folks you’ll meet! Spend time with your mentors to share what you do and what you may struggle with, this is how they can start to really help you!
- Ping An resources, network and current appetite for growth can definitely be true growth drivers for startups. Participants to the program should definitely look for strong cooperation with relevant entities or stakeholders, either to enter the Chinese market with guidance or to develop its tech and business with a unique support and vision. But striking B2B deals take time. It is key to ensure you are speaking to the right departments with right level of influence. Ask your contacts and mentors to help you navigate and activate more senior or relevant people as needed. More importantly keep trying and pushing. The program and activation of Ping An resources come on top of their ongoing priorities and activities. You need to figure out how it can help your counter-parts strike their KPIs!
Do not hesitate to reach out if you have any question or need some advice in your application process
