The 2nd HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition Kicks Off

BEIJING, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HICOOL 2021 Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition kicked off in Beijing on April 16, aiming to foster and showcase the viewpoints on the latest trends in the global innovation and entrepreneurship community among 6 major sectors of artificial intelligence/financial technologies, medicine and healthcare, next-generation information technologies, renewable and sustainable energy/new materials/energy conservation and environmental protection, high-end equipment, and cultural creativity.

Witnessing the beginning of a new chapter in the coalescing and expansion of Beijing's technology scene, the event was themed "Connect Startups Worldwide, Innovate Beijing Together", with nearly two hundred guests from within China and abroad attended the launch ceremony. At the ceremony, representatives of last year's winners shared their entrepreneurship story and experience with HICOOL inspired and motivated moments.

"This year's competition not only increases the prize money by a further 20 million yuan (approx. $3.1 million), but has also increased the number of awards by 40, in addition to many new initiatives designed to assist global startups to start businesses in Beijing," said Wu Yi, Executive Secretary General of Beijing Overseas Talents Association (BOTA), when introducing the 2021 competition.

This year, Beijing Fintech Institute, PICC Finance Services, Tencent Cloud and Deloitte China join hands with HICOOL 2021 Outstanding Startups Acceleration Program, to empower startups and further foster their entrepreneurship. Xiaomi, Meituan, AstraZeneca China, Merck China, The Beijing News, and 36Kr participated in the launch ceremony with HICOOL as the first lineup of partners.

The registration for the competition has been officially launched on April 16th. In the next four months, through a series of processes such as preliminary screening, preliminary, semi-final and final, the winners of 2021 will be selected from the world's outstanding startups.

To further achieve the goal of attracting the best startups worldwide, thousands of entrepreneurial projects from more than 100 countries and regions are expected to compete in six categories, including:

• artificial intelligence/financial technologies
• medicine and healthcare
• next-generation information technologies
• renewable and sustainable energy/new materials/energy conservation and environmental protection
• high-end equipment
• cultural creativity

140 projects will finally be chosen, sharing a pool of prize money amounting to 100 million yuan (approx. US$15 million). The scope of eligibility for a project is being expanded this year so that a larger number and wider range of entrepreneurs globally will be able to enjoy the supporting policies provided by HICOOL.

HICOOL's startup ecosystem is in line with the global mainstream technological innovation and incubation accelerating model, which integrates HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition, HICOOL Service Manger, HICOOL Business College, HICOOL Industrial Park, HICOOL Fund and HICOOL @Online into one.

Projects and talented individuals are identified and brought on board by way of the competition and summit and then nurtured and further empowered by the business college with the eventual goal of forming clusters of entrepreneurial projects at different levels and stages overseen by the stewards. Industrial parks maximize the cluster effect.

Fund investment tools help startups access better capital channels and accelerate the time to market for their projects. Online platforms support the ecological chain across the whole cycle of entrepreneurship, helping all parties to quickly access resources and achieve efficient and accurate matchmaking through the entire project lifecycle.

The goal is to draw talented startups to Beijing, and generally bring together a pool of talents and other resources to raise the bar in terms of the quality of output that the hub can be expected to deliver. The 20,000 square-meter event will house more than 200 renowned exhibitors from China and abroad. C-suite executives and thought leaders from more than 30 of the most creative firms and organizations are expected to gather together to exchange ideas for the next stage of innovation across the sector from the perspective of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, allowing for the fermenting of new thinking around the building of the international technological innovation hub.

The 2021 Summit will be held in late August in Shunyi District, Beijing. The Summit will feature thematic sessions including the award ceremony, theme forum, results presentation, debut of new products and technologies, networking and exchanging of ideas sessions alongside other concurrent activities, to fully demonstrate the step-by-step achievements of building an international science and technology innovation hub in Beijing.

For more information, please visit HICOOL.

SOURCE HICOOL