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October 13, 2015

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Incubators help young startups grow in Putuo

Maker spaces and startup incubators along Caoyang Road in Putuo are giving a boost to the city’s young and emerging tech enterprises.

Yao Junjie is the founder of e-commerce startup Shanghai Zihu Information Technology Co Ltd, located at Metro Cloud Innovation Maker Space.

According to Yao, finding a home for his young company was no easy feat.

After failing to find space at several other locations, Yao tried his luck at Metro Cloud Innovation Maker Space, where many other entrepreneurs had already gathered.

He soon found that the space’s operators were offering a slew of incentives, including free office space for early-stage companies as well as services related to human resources and legal affairs.

Yao explained that the space’s operators also helped organize investor conferences, offering more opportunities for young entrepreneurs to receive fundings.

Since registering in the space in September 2014, Yao’s company has expanded. It now has more than 30 employees.

The young company operates a cosmetics platform app Meihu, which has served more than 4,000 cosmetics shops and helped cut their purchasing costs by as much as 30 percent.

It also received 5 million yuan (US$787,000) in angel funding in March 2015.

Another business incubator along Caoyang Road is Tanjia28.

This is where Ye Yangsheng, the creator of Lepod Beverage System, has his office.

Ye exhibited his Lepod tea-making machine at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Since then, he has done business in many parts of China, but finds Putou a especially promising place to manage his operation.

Because China’s tea market is one of the most competitive in the world, many people urged him to drop this idea.

However, in Putuo, Ye claims to have found the right combination of technology, market exposure and financial support that he needed to grow his fledgling business.

Having set up show in the area back in 2008, Ye said that his rent has remained unchanged over the intervening years.

This devotion seems to be paying off.

According to Ye, his beverage system can now be found in many office towers and drink shops around the country.

Shanghai municipality leaders visited Ye’s company recently and praised Putuo’s generosity to innovation. They also encouraging Ye’s company to apply for a public listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Tanjia28’s general manager Tao Zibin told reporters that about 10 companies registered in the area are listed on the New Third Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, a development that has greatly raised the profile of Putuo as a supportive environment for startups.

Tao added that these and other success stories have been made possible in large part thanks to the sincerity of Putuo’s government officials to promote the young emerging enterprises.




 

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