Startups

Chinese Startups Entrepreneur Service Holding Company: What is DIVVII? DIVVII, Inc. (pronounced div-ee, from the phrase “divvy up”) is an entrepreneurial services holding company that makes it easy for anyone, anywhere to access the resources required to achieve entrepreneurial success, using data science. The company currently has three subsidiaries: DIVVII Media (based in Los Angeles, USA) DIVVII Capital (launching soon in the first quarter of 2018) DIVVII China (based in Shanghai) This article focuses on DIVVII China and its unique programs for students and aspiring entrepreneurs. What is DIVVII’s inspiration? Nicholas (Nick) Clark and Tidus Coleman became friends when Nick was a student at Georgetown and Tidus was working on a veteran’s initiative for Michelle Obama’s office. They combined their backgrounds in entrepreneurship and international education to co-found DIVVII, Inc. Nick moved to Shanghai almost three years ago and currently manages DIVVII China. What is DIVVII’s purpose? DIVVII China seeks…

Chinese Startups Social Network: What is Loop? Loop is a social network platform intended to connect between people, their interests, and the businesses behind their interests! Described as a behavior-based social media platform, Loop allows users to connect with their favorite brands or activities while meeting like-minded people who share their passions. An intricately designed badge system segments users into numerous categories based on their personal hobbies or background, and allows them to further develop their passions by engaging in activities related to their interests. As the user continues to participate in their favorite pastime, they are able to ascend to higher rankings within their chosen category, and acquire higher-level badges that prove their dedication to the field. Furthermore, with every level ascension, the user enjoys added perks related to their interests- such as discounts, exclusive access to site features, and more. Living up to the infinity symbol in its name, Loop allows its users…

Chinese Startups Social Welfare Program: What is Yiqiao? An overview of the company: Yiqiao is a pioneering social innovation institution. It is a type of fellowship program paired with a ‘think tank’ in public service, aimed at tracking down top young talents for the social sector, and pairing them with public service agencies in different fields. Purpose: Yiqiao aims to bridge between young talents and top players in the Chinese public service industry. It is committed to finding innovative solutions to social problems, as well as stimulating society’s understanding of public service. Method: Take great people, give them training, mentorship, funding, a supportive community, and other resources as they are placed in strategic roles within the social sector for a year. Goals: Establish social impact, build mutual support in the industry, and create leaders for the social sector community. Targets: Recent grads or experienced professionals who have several years of…

 WeDoctor/Weiyi Group Chinese eHealth: The Chinese healthcare system is facing huge challenges with, on one hand, a greying population, multiplying chronic diseases and poor health literacy and, on the other hand, too few qualified doctors working in overcrowded top tier hospitals while lower tier ones are deserted. eHealth solutions are today multiplying to address the very obvious needs for higher quality of care and the associated market was recently estimated to reach USD 110 million in 2020 by BCG. After examining the eHealth strategy of the “BATX”, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi, the Chinese equivalent of the American GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple), I wanted to analyse the investment distribution pattern among all eHealth start-ups. The last two years have been rich in investments, with a total of ~ USD 2 billion poured into eHealth solutions in China. Many investments are highly interesting to analyse but one start-up attracts way…

China’s Startup Incubators: The business world is notoriously known to be a vicious place. It is a world that is highly competitive, where players can be fiercely protective of their domain and are unafraid to adopt “dog-eat-dog” tactics to survive. In this environment, young startups are usually left to fender the big wolves for themselves or otherwise shrivel up and fade away. Enter business incubators, a concept born in the US in the late 1950s which essentially serves to give smaller newcomers a chance to grow and shine. Ranging from mentorship and investments, to providing primary resources and services for startups, incubators are organizations that seek to help startups attain their initial footing in the business world. Startup incubators have experienced a renaissance of sorts since 2011, with the global trend of entrepreneurship and innovation taking off amidst the sea of failing economies. China too, has seen a dramatic rise in such…

Chinese Startups Smart Keyboard App: What is Kika? Kika is a next generation big-data keyboard application that allows users to better express themselves through a wide library of unique emojis, gifs, images and more. The app uses api integration to tailor to the world’s most popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Whatsapp, WeChat, Line, Slack, and Kik Messenger. Kika’s image library updates every day and is furthermore searchable to allow users to quickly find the sticker that best represents what they want to express. The app is currently available on both Google Play and the Apple Appstore. More than just emoji and gif sharing, Kika’s products provide users with fast auto-typing & swiping features, natural language prediction, theme & layout customization, and an open plugin platform capable of making many communication tasks more convenient. What are some of Kika’s features? In addition to its vast library, the Kika app…

Chinese Startups Shopping Mall App: What is Yueguang? Yueguang (悦逛) is a mobile application intended to both personalize a shopper’s buying experience while allowing stores  and high-end shopping malls connect with their consumers. Currently available on both iOS and Android, the application caters to three main parties- shopping malls, their businesses/stores, and the consumers who shop at their stores. The Yueguang platform works with different malls to provide a kind of virtual representation of the malls, in which consumers can interact with and get live updates about their favorite brands and shopping locations via Wifi, Bluetooth and iBeacon. Users can then connect to the store pages and attain points, discounts, and rewards for shopping. Meanwhile, Yueguang provides businesses with more accurate and effective mobile marketing solutions, allowing them to better understand their audience and track traffic to their store. The application likewise delivers valuable information to malls about their stores’ various audiences,…

Chinese Startups Facial Recognition Lending: What is Shualian? Shualian (刷脸) is a big-data facial-recognition lending service. The P2P Shualian application allows friends to lend and borrow money (RMB) among their close circles, reducing the dependency on banks and the overall bureaucratic hassle involved with transferring monies. In order to ensure utmost security during the lending or borrowing process, users of Shualian are given a credit score that gradually adjusts based on their performance on the platform. The credit score is initially comprised from a highly intricate algorithm that parses through various criteria in order to give the most accurate reflection of the person’s reliability. Among these criteria is Shualian’s innovative facial recognition software, which among other functions is able to identify the user’s social media platforms to create and build a comprehensive understanding of the user’s persona. To what degree can users borrow/lend with others? The Shualian platform allows users…

Chinese Startups Social Network: What is Gogo? Gogo is a social network platform intended to connect between people, their interests, and the businesses behind their interests! Described as a combination between Facebook and Four Square, Gogo allows users to present snippets of their life while meeting people who share their passions. Simultaneously, an intricately designed badge system segments the users into numerous categories based on their personal hobbies, and allows them to further develop their passions by engaging in activities related to their interests. As the user continues to participate in their favorite pastime, they are able to ascend to higher rankings within their chosen category, and acquire higher-level badges that prove their dedication to the field. Furthermore, with every level ascension, the user enjoys added perks related to their interests- such as discounts, membership access, free merchandise and more. Living up to its name, Gogo allows its users to…

Chinese Startups Smart Vending Machine: What is Quzhi? Quzhi (趣智) is an intelligent vending machine designed to provide the user with a faster and more convenient purchasing experience. Taking the concept of standard vending machines to the IoT level, Quzhi machines are connected to the internet and allow for easy mobile payment, mapping of nearby stations, and live update coverage of available stock. Currently targeted at university campuses, the Quzhi vending machines are entirely student operated and encourage teamwork, managerial skills, and leadership amongst the university students. With a name in Chinese that translates to ‘Fun Tech’, Quzhi machines are truly a revolutionary new approach towards the ordinary dispensing appliances of the past. What does a Quzhi Vending Machine look like? The current Quzhi machines are still in development. The future machines will have a clean, sleek and modern design that will accentuate the machine’s sophisticated digital interface. The upper…