The programme is open to Singaporean startups keen to enter China

Entering the Chinese market is getting easier as Beijing loosens restrictions on foreign investment, especially for sectors including domestic shipping, gas and heating, construction and movie theatre operations, intelligent and green manufacturing, 5G, integrated circuit, cloud computing and vehicle component technology, and certain agriculture sectors.

However, the nuances in regulations, local entrepreneurial ecosystem, and funding mechanisms continue to befuddle foreign startups intent on capitalising on the many opportunities China’s vast market provides.

China’s rapid pace in the tech space has already resulted in the country becoming the global innovation leader in several key growth sectors: electric vehicles (half of global EV sales and US$8 billion in funding raised by Chinese EV startups in 2018), mobile payments (valued at US$5.5 trillion, 50 times that of the US market), and drone technology (Shenzhen-based DJI accounts for 70% of the world’s drones).

This confluence of factors results in a space that welcomes further innovation but also may be intimidating to foreign startups new to the Dragon Nation. Shanghai-based private accelerator and global innovation platform XNode bridges this market knowledge gap for global founders by plugging them into the ecosystem.

Tangible business impact

Since 2016, XNode has partnered with the Australian, Japanese, Korean, and Italian governments to accelerate startups within the Chinese ecosystem through their facilities in Shanghai. With a track record of raising more than US$152 million for participating startups, XNode is now extending its accelerator programme in a concentrated “Launchpad” format to Singaporean startups.

The zero-equity Launchpad programme will kick off on October 2019 with one week of workshops in Singapore, followed by two weeks of immersion in Shanghai and aims to help B2B technology startups set up, test-bed and commercialise their solutions, or co-innovate with partners in Shanghai through a series of highly customised activities. Startups will gain access to the Chinese market, including potential investors, partners, customers, talent resources, and plug startups into the entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem in Shanghai – with the possibility of raising funding from investors during demo day.

Designed to create tangible business impact, the Launchpad is tailored around four key aspects:
1. Preparation: Before startups’ arrival in Shanghai, XNode will get them China-ready through a series of customized workshops and remove administrative barriers.
2. Work: Startups will gain deep market knowledge in workshops and dedicated ecosystem meetings with leading suppliers/partners/customers towards finding product-market fit.
3. Decision: Startups will pitch their findings to investors on the last day of the programme and plan their path forward.
4. Scaling: Startups continue to have access to the XNode community — including global universities, VCs, incubators, government partners, and its alumni network — and receive ongoing support in the form of market knowledge, partnerships, and financing.

The Launchpad’s workshops include topics such as, “Business Model Localisation”, “Digitalisation in China”, “Legal Structure, Finance and IP”, “Technical Localisation”, “Growth Hacking”, “Business with WeChat”, and “Market Research”.

Meanwhile, XNode will organise tailor-made meetings based on startups’ goals and the results of workshops, by leveraging its local network towards opportunities in sales, partnerships, market validation, and fundraising. Participating startups will also benefit from one-on-one coaching sessions with XNode’s vast mentor network such as Jason Wang – Founder and CEO of Omnicharge, Inc., Ping Ping – Managing Director of Chengwei Ventures, and Vivian Shen – Asia GM of Student.com.

Chinese accelerator, global reach

Being a privately-run and managed accelerator in China driven on market input from business insiders is quite an anomaly in China. Despite its China roots and deep local insights, the XNode team takes a global approach both internally and externally — 30% of its staff are international, giving the accelerator a diverse makeup.

XNode runs 2 co-working spaces in Shanghai (Jing’an and Zhangjiang) and has offices in Tokyo, Eindhoven, and Singapore.

Interested Singapore startups can apply to participate in the China-Singapore Innovation Launchpad here by 30 September 2019.

For enquiries or more information, contact Clara Chen, Innovation Lead (clara.chen@thexnode.com) or Kevin Woerner, Senior Acceleration Manager (kevin.woerner@thexnode.com) at XNode.

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