Sequoia Capital launched Incubation Center at China ZhangJiang AI Island
Last month Sequoia Capital’s first domestic industry incubation center — — “Sequoia Digital Intelligent Industry Incubation Center” was officially opened in Shanghai Zhangjiang Artificial Intelligence Island. From the name of the project one can probably tell this is the new strategic base for AI R&D in China that has attracted Microsoft to set up their world’s largest lab with 2,800 sq. meters.
Xu Kunlin, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, Chen Mingbo, Deputy Secretary-General of the Municipal Government, Hang Yingwei, Deputy Secretary-General of the Government and Mayor of Pudong New Area, and Shen Nanpeng, Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital, attended the event. The incubation center aims to effectively build a Sequoia digital intelligence ecosystem, provide all-round support for digital intelligence start-ups in the field of enterprise development, resource links, and industrial collaboration, further promote the development of the digital intelligence industry, and help the construction of a new highland of artificial intelligence in Shanghai.
The R&D and application of digital intelligent technology has always been an important field of Sequoia’s long-term focus and an important investment theme. The opening of the first industry incubation center highlights Sequoia’s determination to continue its early and in-depth deployment in the field of digital intelligence and is also an important measure to further support the construction of Shanghai. According to reports, Sequoia will deepen the digital intelligent incubation system with “basic scientific research + entrepreneurial incubation + deep technology application” as the core, continue to explore and cultivate cutting-edge technology companies, and achieve precision industry empowerment through resource sharing, policy docking, and incubation acceleration.
Xu Kunlin, Deputy Mayor of Shanghai, said in his speech: Since the first World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held in 2018, Shanghai has been making every effort to promote the construction of the artificial intelligence Shanghai Highland. In the past two years, Shanghai has formed a clear route for future innovation. Research centers have been established one after another to stably support basic research and applied research, and focus on key basic theories. Various new technologies, new products and new concepts made their debut in Shanghai, promoting the accelerated development and growth of advantageous enterprises. At present, there are more than 1,100 well-known artificial intelligence companies and local innovative companies at home and abroad. The output value of artificial intelligence enterprises above designated size has exceeded 140 billion. The industry has maintained a growth rate of more than 10% for two consecutive years. Faced with unprecedented development opportunities, Shanghai has given full play to its rich financial resources, promoted the deep integration and rapid development of financial technology and technology finance, vigorously carried out the “Pujiang Light” action, and relied on the advantages of the science and technology innovation board system to help innovative companies go public. Batches of high-growth innovative companies are speeding up the listing process.
Deputy Mayor Xu Kunlin said that Sequoia Capital China Fund continues to be active at the forefront of technological innovation and entrepreneurship, and is one of the most influential venture capital institutions in China. As a witness and participant in Shanghai’s innovation and development, it is a group of local AI The growth of the enterprise provides important support. With the establishment of the Sequoia Digital Intelligence Industry Incubation Center in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, marked by major application scenarios such as artificial intelligence islands, it has become one of the areas with the richest development factors for AI companies in Shanghai and a relatively complete innovation ecology. The start-up and operation of the incubation center will surely speed up the integration and upgrading of the AI innovation resources of Sequoia and Zhangjiang, and inject new impetus and vitality into the creation of artificial intelligence Shanghai.
Shen Nanpeng, Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital, said: “Today, we are very happy to see the’Sequoia Digital Intelligence Industry Incubation Center’ take root in Shanghai. If the past ten years is the era of’Internet +’, then the future will Ushering in a new era of’digital intelligence ×’ Artificial intelligence and big data will promote productivity as a multiplier effect: the extensive accumulation of artificial intelligence in the basic and technical layers is accelerating the transformation to the application layer, which will see more and more in the future More traditional industries and new economic enterprises embrace digital landing in a broader dimension. Under the big pattern that the country promotes the continuous advancement of new infrastructure, the huge energy released by this process will far exceed the traditional Internet era and promote us Meet the new wave of productivity.”
At the meeting, the first group of “Sequoia Digital Intelligence Advisory Committee” members and their representatives appeared. Members included Yang Qiang, co-founder of Fourth Paradigm and Chair Professor of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Dr. Lin Yuanqing, founder and CEO of Aibee, and founder of Minglue Technology /Minghui Wu, Chairman and CEO, and Dr. Shuicheng Yan, Chief Technology Officer of Yitu Technology. They will serve as the “strongest external brain” in the incubation center, combining their deep technical background and industrial practical experience to provide guidance and support for the development of early enterprises.
It is reported that six Sequoia member companies have successfully settled in the incubation center, covering multiple segments such as AI chips, information security, smart manufacturing, and smart sales. At the opening ceremony, Zhangjiang Group and Sequoia Capital China Fund signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will further deepen their cooperation and promote the digital intelligence industry to form an innovative agglomeration effect in Zhangjiang, Shanghai.
The following is the full text of the speech by Shen Nanpeng, global managing partner of Sequoia Capital:
Dear Shanghai Deputy Mayor Xu Kunlin, Dear Shanghai Municipal Government Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Chen Mingbo, Dear Shanghai Municipal Government Deputy Secretary-General, Pudong New Area Mayor Hang Yingwei, and leaders of the municipal government, district government and Zhangjiang, everyone friends,
Good morning, everyone!
I am very honored to be able to invite everyone to the “Sequoia Digital Intelligent Industry Incubation Center” today, and I am very grateful to you all for coming to the site to participate in the opening ceremony of the incubation center during such a special period.A year ago, during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, when I reported to Secretary Li Qiang and Deputy Mayor Wu Qing, I expressed Sequoia’s desire to establish an incubation platform focusing on digital intelligence industries in Shanghai, hoping to combine with us for many years The accumulated investment experience, the use of unique research and support forces, incubate and empower a group of artificial intelligence, big data and SaaS companies, and enrich and improve the construction of the digital industry ecosystem. The city leaders are very supportive of this idea, and soon there will be Shanghai governments at all levels and multiple departments to help us coordinate, promote and implement it.
In the past year, despite the emergence of the new crown epidemic and other emergencies, with the effective and efficient promotion and support of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, the Pudong New Area Government, Zhangjiang Administration Bureau, and Zhangjiang Group, the incubation center was completed and put into use as scheduled. Here, I would like to sincerely thank all the leaders and friends who care about and support the industry incubation center.
Today, the first batch of six Sequoia member companies will officially settle in the incubator. Many of these companies are very young, and some were just established last year. But the fields they are engaged in, whether it is edge computing, information security or smart manufacturing, are the most representative technology applications in the smart era. Rooted in Zhangjiang and based in Shanghai, they can get rich policies, resources and intellectual support at the beginning, which is the soil that all entrepreneurs dream of.
This year coincides with the 15th anniversary of the founding of Sequoia China. In the past 10 years, Sequoia has invested in nearly 50 digital intelligent head enterprises, covering almost all the key areas of the current intelligent industry’s basic layer, technology layer, and application layer. It is the first venture capital institution to conduct a comprehensive layout. More than a dozen of these head companies have their headquarters or R&D centers established in Shanghai, such as Yitu, Minglue Technology, Voxel Technology, etc. Some of them are headquartered in Zhangjiang, such as Senyi Intelligent. They are all leaders in R&D and application technologies in their respective subdivisions, and many have provided successful solutions for the transformation, upgrading and deep integration of traditional industries.Today, we are fortunate to invite Yang Qiang, Lin Yuanqing, Wu Minghui, and Yan Shuicheng who have deep scientific research capabilities and industrial accumulation in the field of digital intelligence to join the “Sequoia Digital Intelligence Advisory Committee”, hoping to rely on the wisdom of top experts and the power of the incubation center to help promote Shanghai will build an industrial pattern of “the integration of east and west, multi-point linkage”, and further gather high-end talents from all over the world, break through core technologies and promote demonstration applications.
Since the beginning of this year, the coronavirus epidemic has become the biggest variable in the entire social and economic development. However, the epidemic has brought new application scenarios to technologies and businesses dedicated to the intelligent industry. In the fight against the epidemic, many medical + AI technology companies have played an important role. For example, for a leading artificial intelligence company we invested in, their medical team has launched a chest CT intelligent evaluation system for COVID-19. This new AI system can accurately analyze the diseased area within 2–3 seconds, while the previous traditional methods often require 2–3 hours or more.
The application of digital intelligent technology, whether it is the creation of new products, new services, or the empowerment of traditional industries, can improve the level of social and economic development and the quality of life of the people with higher efficiency. If the past ten years is the era of “Internet +”, then the future will usher in a new era of “digital intelligence ×” Artificial intelligence and big data will promote productivity as a multiplier effect: artificial intelligence in the basic layer and technology The extensive accumulation of the layer is accelerating the transformation to the application layer. In the future, more and more traditional industries and new economic enterprises will embrace digitalization in a broader dimension. Under the overall situation that the country is advocating new infrastructure and continuously advancing, the huge energy released by this process will far exceed the traditional Internet era, and promote us to embrace a new wave of productivity.
A connected world creates unlimited possibilities. Today, we are very happy to see Sequoia Digital Intelligence Industry Incubation Center take root in Shanghai. We believe that the support of the government and the joint efforts of all sectors of society will greatly promote the development of the smart economy and accelerate the pace of independent innovation in the smart field, thereby realizing a virtuous circle of the smart economy system and becoming an important force in boosting the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.
thank you all!
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