New Opportunities for Internet Startups

By staff reporter JIAO FENG

On June 12, Zhongguancun opened its first “innovation street” in Beijing. Known as Inno Way, the neighborhood has attracted a range of service institutions, all geared to helping fledgling businesses get a head start. Dozens of service institutions have already made Inno Way their homes, including Garage Coffee, Legend Star, Innovation Works and 36 Kr.

A confluence of scientific talent and researchers, experienced investors and service providers, Zhonguancun features a rich environment for startups and innovative businesses. One third of China’s annual startup investments go to Zhongguancun, making the place a haven for enterprise and creativity.

Zhongguancun of Beijing is becoming a hotbed for new businesses owing to its endeavor to improve infrastructure and introduce more creative services.

Hotbed of New Businesses

Starting a business is a daunting task. Under current Chinese laws, founding a company requires a fixed office site, insurance, registration and reams of paperwork. In Zhongguancun, however, new service institutions are making the process easier for new business owners. They rent out desks that can be registered as the office address for a company, saving startups expense in rental and utilities, and offer expert services to help new entrepreneurs navigate paperwork and bureaucracy.

Virtue lnno Valley is one of the incubators which helps new businesses enter the mobile Internet and cultural industry. Hidden away on the eighth floor of a building in western Zhongguancun, Virtue Inno Valley aims to provide services and capital support for startups in order to accelerate their growth. In the spacious, 2,000-square-meter open-plan office, young business pioneers fill all 240 workspaces. General Manager Liu Xiaofan told China Today that his office is home to more than 140 new enterprises.

“The monthly rental for one workspace is RMB 1,500 covering water, electricity and Internet, making our office ideal for nascent enterprises,” Liu said. For a team with three to five people, rental for office seats is only RMB 4,500-7,500. Apart from the public facilities, Virtue Inno Valley also provides startups with operation support. “We assist these business teams in industrial and commercial registration, provide free cloud services and administrative solutions covering financial, legal and other affairs. We also offer free in-depth consulting, allowing startups to concentrate on their projects. These supportive services save startups money, resources and energy,” Liu added.

Wang Hongwei, founder and CEO of Beijing Auto Brilliance Information Technology Co., Ltd., moved his team to Virtue lnno Valley in March. Before that, his business shared a residential apartment with two other businesses. “The biggest problem was that there were not enough bathrooms for a dozen people on three teams,” Wang said. “Moreover, it was hard for us to recruit new employees in that environment, especially women. Sometimes girls would cancel their interviews because they didn’t want to work crowded together with a dozen men.” After moving to the current venue, his business recruited four new employees. “Now we are in Zhongguancun, people consider our business more respectable,” Wang said.