Shinan incubator nurtures multiple startup enterprises

A business incubator housed in the Times Square Center at No 50 Xianggangzhong Road in the Shinan district of Qingdao, Shandong province, has nurtured more than 400 startups. Named Chuanglian, or startup alliance, the more than 3,000-square-meter incubator fosters more than 30 new firms annually.

"At Chuanglian, they have everything available for us to move in, including Internet access, a printer and workstation," said Sun Guannan, founder of Fangjiatian Network Technology, a tenant at Chuanglian. "I don't even have to worry about business registration, human resources or accounting records."

Chuanglian Technology, the company running the incubator, has expanded its franchise services to seven cities in China, including Jinan, Nanjing and Hangzhou, since it was founded in 2008. Feng Xixiang, a chief of the incubator, said the facility features one-stop services for startups.

Feng said compared with traditional government support, which focuses on tax breaks and free offices, the Chuanglian incubator operates with six service modules including preferential policies, legal and financial services, shared technology, financing, resource integration and entrepreneurship consulting.

The incubator has a shared marketing division to help technology startups locate prospective clients through online-to-offline channels.

"The mission for us in founding the incubator is to help would-be entrepreneurs realize their business dreams, and now we have made that sustainable through assistance from the government and also startups we incubated," Feng said.

Tenants pay a monthly service fee of 600 yuan ($96) to 700 yuan, as much as one would spend on a daily cup of coffee. As a privately funded operation, the incubator receives subsidies from governments such as Shinan district where it is located.

Startups can also pay their additional costs with shares in the business.

Liu Jing, director general of the Shinan Technology Bureau, said Chuanglian is one of seven technology incubators in the district.

With an additional five startup incubators for college students, the district offers combined incubator space of 330,000 sq m.

More than 1,100 companies have matured and moved from the incubator, while about 640 remain. Hot sectors among startups include marine biology, smart city infrastructure, sensor technology, environmental protection, toys and apparel and children's products design.

Liu said the district in the city center has limited land space but the urban density makes it rich in other resources such as capital, professionals and market demand.

"Shinan is a thriving hub of high-tech creativity. A lot of startups are willing to choose the district to begin their entrepreneurship," Liu said.

The district government regularly organizes investment promotions and networking events for venture capital investors, entrepreneurs, suppliers and buyers to interact, amid ongoing efforts to streamline administration processes, Liu said.

For example, the project review process has been cut down to five months from the previous eight months and many tasks can be processed online to reduce costs, Liu said.

"Our aim is to maximize the number of success companies within our minimum physical space," she said.

huqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/30/2015 page12)