Business Creation Platform to Support Chinese entrepreneurs Starts Today

Innovation Works, a new business creation platform focused on providing capital, legal, financial and IT support to the next-generation of Chinese entrepreneurs, starts today.

The platform will be funded with $115m from a group of venture capital firms and investors such as Steve Chen (Co-Founder of YouTube), Foxconn Technology Group, Legend Group and New Oriental Education & Technology Group. The investment will be led by WI Harper Group.

Innovation Works will concentrate on Internet, mobile Internet and cloud computing technology advancements in order to collect, analyze, prioritize and execute on the most promising business ideas in the Greater China market. It will accelerate an entrepreneur’s ability to prove ideas, obtain additional external funding, and then spin-off into an independent company.

The announcement of the launch comes after that Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, Innovation Works founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, resigned as Google Vice President and President of Google Greater China.

Explaining the reasons that have brought to establish the platform, he said: “The Chinese entrepreneurial environment is still in its formative stage, with significant barriers for the early-stage entrepreneur: the lack of management experience and coaching, the reluctance of venture capitalists to invest in companies in the formation stage, and the lack of networking and experience to pull a company together.

“These barriers all contribute to a dearth of high-tech start-ups in China. Innovation Works is matching entrepreneurs, engineers, ideas, and capital with a unique business model that improves success rates and speeds time-to-market”.

FinSMEs

07/09/2009