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梦想小镇:向世界展示中国梦

2017-03-18戚永晔

文化交流 2017年3期
关键词:海归加速器硅谷

戚永晔

作为令世界瞩目、位于浙江杭州的特色小镇,梦想小镇目前已经吸引创业项目近千个,集聚创业人才超过万人,金融机构近200家,创业者的智慧加上投资者的资本,推动了梦想小镇快速发展。梦想小镇已成为年轻人实现创新创业梦想的平台。

虽然发达国家的创新创业早于中国,但梦想小镇“快、准、狠”的创业大潮,依然吸引了大量国际目光的关注和参与。

留学生:梦想走出去

从硅谷到斯坦福大学、从波士顿到哈佛大学,创业圣地一直和大学生有着深厚的联系。但今天,大学生的目光首先瞄准了梦想小鎮。

近日,在由浙江省教育厅、省新闻办、省外侨办等主办的“世界青年看中国梦”活动中,来自英、法、德、日等50个国家的200余名青年走进杭州梦想小镇。他们是来自温州大学、浙江大学、中国美术学院、浙江师范大学等全省16所高校的200余名外国留学生,都有着年轻人热衷的创业精神,他们的祖国也大多时兴着创新创业的新潮,但梦想小镇依然给了他们极大的震撼。

行走在梦想小镇的创业大街,来自也门的浙江科技大学留学生王亚当一直举着手机在拍照。他说着一口流利的普通话,听不出半点“老外”的口音。走进金灿灿的梦想长廊,他激动地高呼:“太棒了!”他说,长廊仿佛是通往梦想的路,走在这里,一种仪式感油然而生。

“这里每走一步都是历史。”当听到这句解说词,王亚当和其他留学生无不瞪大眼睛,脸上流露出惊喜的表情。得知脚下的仓前老街已有880多年的历史时,这些年轻人为中国传统文化发出的惊叹声、赞叹声不绝于耳。

来到中国只有4个月的乌兹别克斯坦姑娘倪汉,目前就读于温州大学。谈及梦想,她有些害羞地说:“我的梦想是成为乌兹别克斯坦的驻华大使。”她这一句话引来了台上8位嘉宾的点赞,“虽然有难度,但我会一直朝着这个梦想努力。”

留学生们参观了梦想小镇创业大街,包括创业大街展示厅、梦想长廊、海龟国际创业中心、南方海龟梦立方、特色小镇研究院、希望田野等,并在梦想小镇互联网村展开了一场围绕中国梦的论坛。大家聊梦想、说青春、谈创业、论奋斗,不约而同地期待在中国、在浙江圆自己的文化使者梦。

在梦想小镇保留下来的一块稻田前,年轻人纷纷合影留念,因为这里包含了对年轻人、对创业者的美好祝愿——“水稻(到)渠成”。

“参观完梦想小镇,我更加坚定了创业的梦想,我想把中国的好产品带到我的祖国。”王亚当的一席话,道出了台下许多留学生的想法。在他们眼里,中国的经济发展成就举世瞩目,从事贸易不仅可以帮助自己国家的人民提高生活水平,同时也能把博大精深的中国文化带到世界各地。

其实,这已不是留学生们第一次关注梦想小镇,早在2016年3月,梦想小镇开启一周年之际,在浙江省科协主办的“科学+:对话中外青年、共享创新创业”系列交流活动中,已经有30名来自英国、比利时等国各大高校的学子走进梦想小镇。当大家得知仅用一年时间,梦想小镇就集聚了数百个创业项目和数百亿元市场资本时,他们惊呼:“这就是中国的硅谷。”

而这,正是更多留学生的共同想法,也是他们向世界宣传中国、宣传梦想小镇的响亮口号。

海归族:梦想引进来

“我负责阳光雨露,你负责茁壮成长”的杭州未来科技城(海创园)招商局副局长李洁说,今天,梦想小镇已经形成了一支以“阿里系、浙大系、海归系、浙商系”为代表的创业“新四军”。

而这当中,海归系是最值得注目的一股力量。如果说留学生是梦想小镇品牌“走出去”的中坚力量,那么海归系创业者则是把国外先进理念和技术引入梦想小镇的“生力军”。

90后温州女孩黄佳佳是宾夕法尼亚教育学硕士、海归学霸,回国后在梦想小镇湾西加速器创业研发了Native Talk(外教君)App。

“一键呼叫外教、即时匹配、按课时计费,模式类似UBER和中国的‘滴滴打车。”在梦想小镇公司办公场地,黄佳佳用英语流利地向来访者介绍了自己的创业项目。

创业之初,黄佳佳和合伙人一起联合百所海外名校的学生和老师,组成一个强大的外教团队,用户只需要发起对话需求,在线的外教会根据对应的要求自主接单,加上团队研发的教材,通过语音、视频实现即时交流,英语基础不好的人则可以利用文字辅助学习。

80后帅小伙——斯坦福大学海归博士王孟秋有创业故事,他放弃美国不菲的收入、Twitter诱人的股权激励而回国创业。转眼已近一年,他的“小黑侠”跟拍无人机,已成为当下热卖的互联网新品。“杭州正在越来越接近甚至在某些方面开始赶超美国硅谷。”500万元的创业基金、3500平方米梦想小镇免费办公区域,这给了“小黑侠”充足的阳光雨露,“在海外这是无法想象的。”

中国青年创新创业投资联盟副会长、专注于园区运营的海龟科技董事长傅智建表示:“在过去,我的梦想是不可思议的;而今,我的梦想依旧不变,是为人类做一件有意义的事情,能够被世人铭记。”同时,他希望搭建平等互通、资源共享的国际交流平台,让每个人都拥有平等创业的机会,并将优秀的创业资源引进来,让优秀的项目走出去。

海外平台:梦想搭舞台

留学生们、海归族们对梦想小镇的关注当然不是个例,事实上,许多海外的资本,也在陆续进入梦想小镇的建设中。

500Startups就是个例子。

被许多外国媒体称为“生于硅谷,投资全世界”的500Startups成立于2010年,总部位于美国硅谷。除了美国外,还在很多地方设立了办事处,是一家国际化风险投资种子基金及创业加速器,目前管理资产规模逾2亿美元,主要关注金融科技、电子商务、搜索、社交、移动平台、教育及语言等“加速器”领域。其核心特点主要有:聚集了250多位导师;经筛选加入加速器的项目都会给其种子投资;注重全球布局,喜欢投资有国际化思维的创业者,并且非常注重网络营销。

每年,500Startups在舊金山和硅谷总部举办加速器项目、网络营销、用户设计和体验及创业实践等实用创业战术的培训活动,加速器筛选非常严格,录取率仅为3%。

2016年12月18日,500Startups与未来科技城签署了战略合作协议,在梦想小镇设立办事窗口,并在此直播硅谷的创业活动。

500Startups创始合伙人Dave McClure表示:“我们的国际创业者和企业家网络希望将创新带入这座城市和其他中国城市,用我们带来的硅谷经验助力本土创业生态系统的成长和发展。”

其实,目前小镇已经有阿里百川创业基地、B座12楼、36氪、湾西加速器、蜂巢等15家新型孵化平台;还推进与美国湾区委员会的合作,引进硅谷500 Startups、Plug&Play,形成了涵盖办公、融资、培训、辅导、市场推广等创业各环节的服务链条。

“建立多层次创业平台,有助于不同层次创业者找到自己的位置,让梦想小镇更好地为创业者服务。”杭州未来科技城相关负责人如是说。而海外平台及资本的各种配套,使梦想小镇率先在国际发展蓝图上画下了浓墨重彩的一笔,而这只是一个美好的开端。

Foreign Students Visit Dream Town in Hangzhou

By Qi Yongye

Dream Town in a northern suburb of Hangzhou is not just one of the hundreds of special towns in the making, a town development project of the province. Dream Town is a new name for Cangqian, a town that is 880 years old. Since the start of the provincial project, the town has attracted more than 1,000 startup projects. Right now, over 10,000 entrepreneurs are working there and nearly 200 investment institutions are operating there.

Recently a group of over 200 foreign students visited Dream Town. The visit was jointly organized by the Zhejiang Administration of Education, the Information Office and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the provincial government. The students are from over 50 countries such as UK, France, Germany, and Japan. They are studying in 16 universities and colleges across the province.

The young visitors were excited by what they saw. They visited exhibitions, platforms, incubators, and a research institute. They looked around the town. They took photos. They sat down and discussed about their own dreams for future. Most of these young visitors expressed their wish to act as ambassadors of their respective cultures in Zhejiang and China.

It wasnt the first time that foreign students came to visit the town. In March 2016, a group of students from universities of UK and Belgium visited Dream Town on the first anniversary of the town. The tour was organized by Zhejiang Science Association. The students were astonished to learn that the 1-year-old town was a huge incubator of entrepreneurs running hundreds of startup projects which involved venture capitals of over tens of billions.

“We take care of all the infrastructure and services and you take care of startups and growth!” This is a statement made by the local investment bureau. The entrepreneurs in the town are presented by four major groups: those from Alibaba, those who graduated from Zhejiang University, those who studied abroad and returned, and those who are Zhejiang businesspeople.

Unlike the three other groups, those who returned from abroad are a big player. These entrepreneurs introduce advanced ideas and technologies to their motherland.

Huang Jiajia, a holder of master degree in education, has developed and is operating Native Talk App, a paid language tutoring service through mobile phones. Huang and her partners have a team of students and teachers who can be accessed by users in China. Huang has also developed textbooks. Students and native speakers can see each other and talk directly. For those who have difficulty in listening and speaking, texts can be displayed.

Wang Mengqiu, a PhD from Stanford University, has been in Dream Town for nearly a year. His startup business is a drone that follows and takes video records. The drone is hot on internet shops. He commented: “Hangzhou is catching up with the Silicon Valley. In some aspects, it is better.” The drone project started with a 5 million startup fund and a 3,500-square-meter free office space, all provided by the town. Wang Mengqiu said such concrete assistance is unimaginable in foreign countries.

500 Startups, an investment and incubation platform born in the Silicon Valley, USA, has set up a partnership with Dream Town in Hangzhou. The platform has over a team of about 250 advisors and seeks best startup projects through a rigorous selection system. The projects that qualify get seed money form 500 Startups. Only 3 % are chosen.

In December 2016, 500 Startups signed a strategic cooperation agreement and started an office in Dream Town. At the platform, the entrepreneurs in town can see ongoing startup projects in the Silicon Valley.

Dave McClure, a founding partner of 500 Startups, says, “We hope to bring innovation into this city and other cities across China. We help the local startup system to grow with the experience of the Silicon Valley.”

At present, the town has fifteen incubators and works in partnership with Bay Area Committee of USA. The town provides startup businesses with a full range of services in office administration, finance, training, coaching, and marketing.

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