Expansion of Start Alliance Berlin

Berlin and Shanghai sign cooperation agreement for startup exchange

Following Tel Aviv and New York, Shanghai is now set to become the latest partner in the startup exchange program, "Start Alliance Berlin". Under this program, Berlin-based entrepreneurs receive up to six weeks of free access to a coworking space in Shanghai and vice versa. The Chinese market is tantalizing, particularly in light of the immense opportunities for scaling. Shanghai, with its outstanding startup and technology ecosystem, is the perfect partner city in China. "The Chinese market represents both an opportunity and a challenge: With approximately 1.4 billion people, the People's Republic offers enormous growth potential, but also presents a very complex ecosystem for entry into the market. That's why we provide startups not only with workspace but also experienced partners who possess specific market expertise," said Dr. Stefan Franzke, Management Spokesperson at Berlin Partner for Business and Technology.

The initial partners in Shanghai are Chinaccelerator, Techcode and TusStar Shanghai. "Chinaccelerator focuses on bringing international innovation to China and opening up world markets to Chinese innovation. We are very excited about our collaboration with Berlin Partner and the opportunity to support young entrepreneurs entering the market in China," said Eric Ramsay, Analyst SOSV, Chinaccelerator. TusStar Shanghai, which is part of Tus Holding, a spin-off of the renowned Beijing Tsinghua University, also serves as partner. Tus Holding has 30 sites across China, where more than 400 companies are based. TusStar provides startups not only with office space and networking opportunities with established industries, but also has an attractive incubator program. Techcode also provides space to interested startups. Techcode is a Chinese tech investor with accelerator programs throughout China. Beyond that, Techcode is also active, for example, in Seoul, Tel Aviv, and Silicon Valley, and recently opened a location in Berlin. Techcode hubs serve to promote an exchange between startups and Techcode investors, and give entrepreneurs the opportunity to enter into dialog with other businesspersons focused on the Chinese market.