Plug and Play brings international startups to Wuxi

World leading technology startup accelerator Plug and Play (PNP) China invited representatives from 12 international startups to Wuxi National High-tech District on Sept 17 for a major event.

More than 80 representatives from Chinese companies and investment institutions also attended the event.

Plug and Play (PNP) China's 2019 cross-border tour takes place in Wuxi National High-tech District on Sept 17. [Photo by Zhou Ya/chinadaily.com.cn]

PNP, established in Silicon Valley in 2006, has successfully accelerated the growth of internet giants such as Google and PayPal.

Its 2019 cross-border tour, themed on the internet of things, aims to connect overseas technology startups with Chinese enterprises and promote global innovation. Wuxi, a city renowned for its IoT industry, is one of the five major stops on the tour.

During the event, WND Sci-tech Innovation Promotion Center project manager Liu Ruixia gave a briefing about the district -- which boasts flourishing biotech operations, as well as integrated circuits, IoT, software and information services industries, with over 2,100 foreign-funded companies located there.

She invited the startups to work with the local authorities in order to build an ecosystem in which entrepreneurs and shareholders prospered together.

Representatives from the overseas startups gave talks about their own products and businesses. Gary Loyd, co-founder of SHEnetics, explained how the conversational AI platform could talk with people naturally and help them live an easier life with the data it collected, such as the location of a gas station.

Young Hwang, co-founder and CTO of South Korean-based AI, AR and big data solutions provider Alchera Inc, explains how AI is applied to prevent fires in electrical power companies. [Photo by Zhou Ya/chinadaily.com.cn]

The event exposed the international firms to the Chinese ecosystem for startups -- including enterprises, investors and local government -- and opened the way for more opportunities for them to expand their businesses and achieve win-win cooperation with Wuxi and other Chinese cities.