In August, TechCrunch launched a landmark Chinese edition in partnership with super awesome Chinese blog TechNode. Now we are coming together again, and bringing in some of the leading entrepreneurs, investors and others in the region, for our first joint event in Shanghai on November 19-20. We’re calling the event “The Red Web.”
“The Red Web” is a reference not just to the strong national current that runs through much of China’s tech scene today, but also because red is the color of revolution: we think China’s technology industry and its startup scene are going through one right now.
For years, China has been notorious for its copycats. That hasn’t been helped by the fact that companies from outside China have shied away from doing business there — in part because of the language barrier; and in part because the authorities, with their inclination to censorship, haven’t exactly made China a very inviting environment. For every Evernote that has managed to figure out a workaround and pick up traction in the country, players like Google and Facebook have hit roadblocks in their forays into Chinese market.
Things are now changing. Big players like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are now investing in startups instead of creating me-too products, and that has encouraged innovation. We’re proud of Chinese startups like Bangcle, GEAK, Rekoo, Qiniu, Go Launcher, Camera360, TouchPal and iSkyDream. And more foreign brands are increasingly finding their way into China. Among those who will be presenting at TechCrunch Shanghai, sharing their experiences about entering the market, will be Opera, Uber, Glow, Flipboard, PopCap and Rovio.
Who else will be there?
As well as those from abroad who are getting more involved with business in China, the event also will bring together leading local players. Xu Xiaoping, co-founder of China’s leading e-learning brand New Oriental and the ZhenFund, will be there alongside Keith Teare, co-founder of TechCrunch and founder of Palo Alto incubator Archimedes Labs.
Veterans from China’s tech scene will also be on stage, including the co-founder of Dianping.com (the Yelp of China); the founder of Jiayuan.com (the Match.com of China); the VP of Tencent, and more. Chinese angel investors and VCs including Sequoia, IDG, HCP, Gobi and IVS will join us on panels.
Following from our first China event in Beijing in 2011, TechCrunch Shanghai will bring these people together to talk not just about some of the bigger trends in China but in the wider world of tech, such as the rise of wearable devices, the new vogue for “sexy” enterprise services, and new online inroads to solve persistent problems in the health and education sectors.
We’ll also have some of TechCrunch’s leading writers and editors there, as well as our COO Ned Desmond.
Startup Alley
Like a formal Disrupt event, TechCrunch Shanghai will also have a Startup Alley, in which 80 small teams will exhibit their products in a bustling, marketplace-style format. Among them, startups we will also see groups of startups from Hong Kong and Taiwan to showcase the startup spirit in greater China. And we will also have a special focus on hardware startups, courtest of the HAXLR8R incubator in Shenzhen.
Attendees will have their chance to vote for their favorite companies, with winners getting the opportunity to hit the main stage for live demos.
More great speakers and topics will be announced in the coming days. For more details of the event and earlybird tickets, go here. If you are a startup and interested in joining our Startup Alley, go here.