Startup accelerator helps British companies export to China
August 16, 2017 Category Foreign trade, Weekly
Chinese big data company BBD opened a new startup accelerator in London in June to help new British financial technology companies export technology to China. Within two months of opening, 10 companies have joined the BBD Accelerator and some have achieved immediate results. Zhejiang University’s Academy of Internet Finance has used its base at BBD to establish a partnership with the Cambridge-based information technology firm TAB and launch a crowd funding index in the United Kingdom. Helen Wang, CEO of BBD UK, said her team helps member companies “grow and scale up, especially assisting them to access the vast China market”. BBD takes a percentage of profits rather than an upfront fee. BBD is the fourth China-focused accelerator to be established in Britain. According to a report published in April by the innovation group Nesta and the UK government, there are 163 active accelerators in the UK supporting an estimated 3,660 new businesses per year. The BBD Accelerator focuses on advisory services instead of offering physical space, which also reduces costs. In May, China Medical City set up a life sciences accelerator in London, aiming to attract British life science companies to its much bigger Taizhou, Jiangsu province-based life science accelerator with the same name. Established in 2010, the Taizhou-based China Medical City already hosts more than 700 life science companies. Another China-focused accelerator, Canary Wharf-based Silk Ventures established in 2015, reached breakeven in its first year of operation, and has 20 member companies, the China Daily reports.
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