US China Innovation Alliance Summit Accepting Technology Competitors
Industry: Technology
InnoSTARS Competition To Select Up to 90 Companies for All-Expenses Paid Trips to China
Houston, TX (PRUnderground) March 20th, 2018
The US China Innovation Alliance (UCIA), an international technology advancement non-profit, recently opened a call for innovative technology applicants to compete in the 2018 InnoSTARS Competition designed to connect pioneering U.S.-based companies with Chinese investors and partners.
Preliminary competitions will take place in the following U.S. cities: Denver (April 27), Atlanta (May 16), San Francisco (May 21), and Boston (July 17). Competitors will also convene during the third annual two-day US China Innovation and Investment Summit in Houston on May 14.
The InnoSTARS Competition is a platform for innovative U.S. companies to compete and connect with investors and partners from China. Industries of focus include healthcare and biotechnology, artificial intelligence and augmented/ virtual reality, environment technology, information and communication technology, advanced manufacturing, and renewable energy and new materials.
Of the roughly 300 companies that advance in the American preliminary competitions in eight cities, around 100 semi-finalists will receive all-expenses paid trips to 10 Chinese cities to pitch and connect with international investors, all while receiving valuable advice from highly sought-after innovation hubs.
From the semi-finalist pool, 18 finalist companies will travel to Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai. Businesses will have the opportunity to meet industry-specific investors and partners with fund sizes larger than $50 million.
“The InnoSTARS 2018 was listed as one of the key programs in the science and technology area for the first US-China Social and Cultural Dialogue (SCD) co-chaired by former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Yandong,” said Qiangmin Li, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Houston.
Past first-prize winner Apostolos Lerios, VP Strategy for Restream, a cloud multi-streaming service headquartered in Austin, Texas, shared how his 2017 InnoSTARS roadshow experience in China broadened his company’s operational view.
“Now that we have a better understanding of how business is done in China, we feel we’re ready to pursue more eagerly our plans to establish a strategic partnership with a Chinese company or venture fund,” Lerios said.
The InnoSTARS Competition is being hosted by the Houston-based US China Innovation Alliance (UCIA) and China Science and Technology Exchange Center with support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of People’s Republic of China as well as the Consulate-General of People’s Republic of China in Houston.
To view the application deadlines for the various divisions, click here. Applications can be submitted online with an executive summary and pitch deck. Technology companies may view the full details on the competition including eligibility, judges’ biographies and registration at https://uschinainnovation.org/innostars2018/.
About US China Innovation Alliance
The US China Innovation Alliance (UCIA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that promotes innovation through the exchange of ideas and collaboration between China and the US. We organize the annual US China Innovation and Investment Summit (UCIS) in Houston, which provides a unique opportunity for innovative technology startups to connect with investors, strategic partners, leading incubators/accelerators, and professional services firms from China. It is an excellent platform for technology companies to leverage significant resources from China to accelerate their growth and to expand their market potential. In 2017, we launched the InnoSTARS Competition, which allows growth-stage technology companies in five core industry areas to compete for the chance to win attendance to UCIS as well as an all-expenses paid Roadshow to China, where they will have an opportunity to showcase their business and products to a wide audience of qualified potential investors and relevant partners. The UCIA also organizes roadshows to bring innovative US technology companies to China for B2B matchmaking and provides other services to help US-based companies connect with complimentary Chinese resources.
