COMB+ announces a new investment fund at Slush 2017 for startups entering the Chinese market
The new €65 million fund was announced at the ‘Sino Track Goes Slush’ event in Helsinki, along with Chinese investments in Finnish scaleup companies
Chinese business accelerator COMB+ and the Beijing Institute of Collaborative Innovation (BICI) have announced the creation of a new Artificial Intelligence Fund with a target size of €65 million. The fund will focus on international technology startups entering the Chinese market.
The fund is part of the COMB+ Sino Track accelerator program, which was launched a year ago. Already 19 Nordic startups have participated in the program, which is now expanding globally.
The pitching competition at the event included 10 finalists - jury selected children’s franchise Dibidogs as the winner, opening a shortcut to the Sino Track program.
“We are very happy to announce our new fund with the Beijing Institute of Collaborative Innovation as part of the Sino Track program,” says Leo Zhu, CEO of COMB+. “We see Helsinki, Beijing’s sister city, as the best place in the world to launch our fund. Our ambitions are global and we are today opening the Sino Track program to all exceptional technology and cultural startup aspiring to enter the Chinese market,” he concluded.
Previous Sino Track alumni include Finnish acoustic technology company Flexound. The company’s CEO Mervi Heinaro comments: “China is the number one country for Flexound. Besides the great market potential, we also appreciate the speed at which things get done. In our minds, China is the best place to go global.”
The Sino Track program connected Flexound with over 20 relevant Chinese investors and institutions, including major media company Xinhuanet, and GOME, which operates over 2000 retail and online stores. Through the introductions, Flexound was able to open a sales channel in China in only three weeks.
The event also included an announcement from partnering fund Ascend Capital Partners, who have invested a total of €24 million in four Finnish companies.
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For additional information:
Media kit
Additional photos from Slush 2016 event
Juulia Pietilä
Nordic Business Manager, COMB+
+358 40 568 6560
juuliapietila@combplus.com
COMB+ is a full-lifecycle entrepreneurship service platform based in Beijing, China. COMB+ is dedicated to creating an ecosystem for global entrepreneurs and startups to realize their dreams. As a new-generation innovation incubator, COMB+ has a unique “platform + investment” business model. COMB+ focuses on providing entrepreneurship services to and investing in early-stage startups in the technology and cultural industries. www.combplus.com
