The insider’s startup guide to Shanghai
With money getting thrown at innovative initiatives, the government willing to reimburse venture capitalists for their loss and the eco system maturing as a whole, Shanghai is starting to look like the next entrepreneur’s heaven.
Wantrepeneurs, incubators and co-working spaces are growing like mushrooms. Being an entrepreneur is the dopest thing you can wish for in this booming city. But it takes much more than that to develop a mature startup eco system and build sustainable companies.
We have compiled a list of resources beyond co-working spaces and venture capitalist funds. But first, ask yourself those four questions in order to find out which support is most suitable to you.
1. What’s the founding team nationality, core competence and commitment?
2. What’s your company stage?
3. What are your immediate needs?
4. What do you want to achieve in the next six months?
Now that you have answered these questions, here is a curated list of support for foreign entrepreneurs in Shanghai.
- TRAINING — Step up your game on the long term without giving away equity
Training program: Concept Lab, Le Wagon, Startup Leadership Program
University courses: UTSEUS, NYU, EMLyon, HULT
Workshops: NextStep Workshops, MotivateShanghai, CoderBunker
MOOCs: Digital Innovation by Telecom Paris Tech, Digital Marketing in China by Xnode, Koudetat by the Family
2. COMMUNITIES — Great to share tips, tools and find business opportunities
Nationality based: French Founders, French Tech, National Chambers of Commerce
Interest based: La Ruche, Female Entrepreneur Worldwide, Feiy, Made In Shanghai
Mentoring: Mentors’ Walk, HerCentury, Divii, EO network
Fablabs & Hackerspace: XinCheJian, Fablabo, XinFab
3. SERVICES — From office to hiring we need services catered to startups
Office: naked Hub, theXnode, WeWork, Sandbox, UrWork, Soho 3Q, Impact Hub Shanghai, People Squared, Spaceyun, Cowork, Sandbox, BaseCo, 创邑SPACE (Creater), Agora Space, Full list
Spaces: Impact Hub Shanghai, PWC experience center
Hiring: QLC, Le Wagon, CoderBunker
4. INVESTMENT + VISIBILITY — Raise and learn how to sell
Accelerators: EO accelerator, Chinaccelerator, 23Seed, Innospace, Shanghai Valley, BitsAndBites, Plug and Play
Crowdfunding: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Purple Spread, hubbers, Initial Coin Offering platforms
5. EVENTS — Meet your co-founder, first employee or advisor
Networking events: Networking Matters, Startup Grind, Green Initiatives, Meetup, entreprenr
Hackathons: Startup Weekend, TechCrunch Hackathon, Fail Faster, Full list
6. INSPIRATION — Get going and keep going when it gets tough (i.e. all the time)
Events: Startup Grind, Ladies Who Tech
Videos: Ted Talks
Entrepreneur Blogs & Magazines: Technode
Books: The Lean Startup
7. INVESTMENT — If you’re building the next unicorn
Private Funds incubators: Caohejing Innoclub, theXnode, QiaoLab
Foreign friendly Investment funds: Sequoia Capital, Mailman Group, ShanghaiVest, ZhenFund
Angels: AngelVest
Thanks for reading! This article needs YOU to improve. Please comment and connect with me on LinkedIn to add your input! We will review it regularly to keep it updated.
I have lived in China for 7 years and have been evolving in the Shanghai startup eco system for 3, as co-founder of my startup Lihaoma, managing member of Startup Grind Shanghai chapter, alumni of Chinaccelerator and Program leader of the entrepreneurship program of Shanghai University UTSEUS. I am currently developing training programs for founders to make their startup profitable. I am starting with a collaboration with Adja Sy to bring The Concept Lab by Made In Shanghai.
Contributors: Adja Sy, Sylvain Joandel, Debo Omololu, Stephane Monsallier, Ryan J. King, Erik Walenza-Slabe, Stephane Vernede.
NB: this guide is tailored to foreign founders of Chinese and foreign companies alike. We have curated the support most actionable for you, particularly on the investment side because we know it’s tough for foreign founders to raise from purely Chinese funds.
