Innovation center seeks to boost startup ventures with China

TechCode Israel, a Chinese innovation center set up to boost collaboration between the Asian giant and Israel, has set up a new program called Path to China, with which it aims to foster international cooperation between startups, including in the fields of smart mobility, artificial intelligence and big data.

The initiative was launched on Wednesday at the EcoMotion mobility conference in Tel Aviv, a gathering of investors and startup entrepreneurs in which Israeli technologies in the field of smart mobility were showcased.

The global program aims to pool resources and integrate and accelerate startup projects the incubator is fostering in the eight countries it operates in: Israel, Germany, Russia, China, Korea, the United States, France and Finland.

The program is open to all startups that are interested in entering the Chinese market, and will offer an offshore training program that will help entrepreneurs and their employees become familiar with the Chinese market and government policies. The program also includes meetings with investors and a trip to China.

 Zheng Xiaoxing, general manager of Techcode China Innovation Center in Israel, said that Israelis are very good at technology, but they lack the ability to integrate their products into wider systems. Their drawback is fragmentation, she said at the event.

Part of Techcode’s scope is to not only to introduce Israeli companies to China, but to match them up with Chinese partners, so that their products can be integrated into larger systems.

Intelligent transportation is one of the most important industries in the world, she said. Automotive technology affects national economies and people’s livelihood. Xiaoxing called on experts in the Chinese automotive field and Israeli startups to discuss and build a joint platform, to enable Israeli automotive companies to enter China.

The Times of Israel’s Tel Aviv office is on Techcode’s premises.