Spanish startup wins final prize at #Fosun Global Innovation Competition

The Chinese market is the best test ground for European startups. If you can make it in China, you can make it anywhere. Participating in Chinese startup contests is therefore a must for ambitious European startups.

One of the most prominent Chinese startup contests is the Protechting-Innostar Global Innovation Competition, organized by Fosun, China’s leading investment group. This year’s competition was hosted by the Ningbo Municipal People’s Government on 11th September 2017. The choice of Ningbo was not fortuitous as the city had recently been approved as national pilot zone for insurance innovation. The nomination of Ningbo as capital for insurance technology is linked to its history.  It was in fact a batch of Ningbo businessmen to have signed China’s first ever navigation insurance contract in the country back in the 19th century.

The CEO of Fosun Group Wang Qunbin himself participated in the event together with Liu Changchun, Deputy Mayor of Ningbo Municipal People’s Government.Three European startups took part in the competition: Visor.ai, Amiko and Bdeo. The three Portuguese startups had emerged for their excellence out of the BETAi acceleration program in Portugal arranged by Fosun & Fidelidade.

Amigo, Visor.ai and Bdeo, the three European startups winners of the Portugal-based Protechting acceleration program and selected to be part of the final competition in China

The young managers of the three startups traveled all the way to Ningbo to compete with other ten Chinese teams in the fields of insurance technology, digital health and artificial intelligence for a first prize of RMB 100.000 (around €13.000) and the future support of Fosun on innovation development and China market outreach.

The jury of the competition consisted of nine experts from China’s top universities (Zhejiang University and Renmin University), corporates (Fosun Insurance Group, Verisk Analytics and Cyzone), and VCs (Aplus Fund, Share Capital Healthcare Fund).  ChinaEU was invited to deliver the final awards to the winners. After intensive deliberation, the jury decided that the final winner was Bdeo, from Spain. Julio Pernía, CEO and co-founder of Bdeo, explained how his startup uses AI and video streaming to streamline the process of insurance claims management.

Awards delivered by Yao Beijun, Vice Secretary-General of Ningbo Municipal People's Government, and Claudia Vernotti, Director of ChinaEU

Through this competition Fosun has shown the important role that powerful Chinese corporates can play in supporting European startups grow and fully grasp the China market opportunity. It also shows the thirst of Chinese local governments for international projects that can inspire the growth of a healthy and internationally-oriented innovation culture. Since 2015, Fosun has been investing huge efforts and considerable capital in supporting the growth of the European startup community. ChinaEU is publicizing not only this one-time opportunity. ChinaEU promotes in a systematic way access by European startups to the most important players of the ever-growing Chinese innovation ecosystem.

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