Berlin-based startups test entry to Chinese market

Invest Shanghai is the newest partner in the Start Alliance Berlin program: 

The start-up exchange program, “Start Alliance Berlin”, has gained a new partner in Shanghai: the economic development corporation, Shanghai Invest, and the economic development company of Berlin, Berlin Partner for Business and Technology are signing a cooperation contract this week. As part of the program, start-up entrepreneurs from Shanghai and Berlin will be offered a workspace free of charge in a co-working space in each of the partner cities. The first partners in Shanghai were Chinaccelerator, Techcode, and TusStar Shanghai. With Invest Shanghai, the program is gaining an experienced partner that can facilitate entry to the Chinese market and access to investors. Furthermore, in addition to office space, the Shanghai-based economic development corporation also offers start-ups networking opportunities with established industry contacts.

Madam Zong Yuyan, Vice President of Invest Shanghai said in the speech that, in the field of open innovation, Shanghai has been at the forefront of the whole nation. Technological innovation, real economy, finance industry, internet industry are highly integrated, and there's a large number of new business formats emerged. The construction of wisdom city  has also been developed sustainably. Invest Shanghai will tighten the cooperation with Berlin partner under the framework of MOU, and will constantly enrich the cooperation contents and form mutual promotion of the two way investment between the two cities.

Dr. Stefan Franzke, CEO of Berlin Partner for Business and Technology, said: “The Chinese market is both an opportunity and a challenge at the same time: With a population of around 1.4 billion, the People’s Republic offers enormous growth potential on the one hand, but on the other hand it is also a very complex ecosystem for new additions to the market. I am delighted that we are now able to provide Berlin-based start-ups that are planning to expand into China with support from another experienced partner with excellent knowledge of the market.”

Ten start-up entrepreneurs from Berlin are in Shanghai this week with Start Alliance Berlin, in cooperation with Commerzbank. They are getting to know the major city’s start-up ecosystem to elicit information that is crucial for a potential expansion to the Chinese market. They are pitching to investors, exchanging experiences with Chinese entrepreneurs, and are learning about the legal and financial aspects of founding a company in China. Commerzbank is meeting with the start-up entrepreneurs as part of a landing session on the subject of financing.

Joachim Köhler, Head of Digital Hub Ost Commerzbank AG: “With the COMUP team, Commerzbank is an important benefactor for the Berlin start-up scene. Furthermore, we also assist our customers when they are expanding internationally. Therefore, we are delighted to support startups with Berlin Partner in Shanghai. At the same time, we are a successful partner for digital enterprises expanding throughout Europe, out of Germany. To this end, we are well established in our start-up hubs in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, and Cologne/Dusseldorf.”