Executives and partners from Baidu Ventures, China Growth Capital, Horizon Robotics and Skolkovo Innovation Center will bring 2020's hi-tech marvels closer to you.
A myriad of things is happening at the intersection of investment and technology these days. The looming shadow of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the omnipresent connectivity enabled by the diverse concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), complex relationships between the Edge and the Cloud, countless applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) tools – all these are just the tip of the iceberg in today's digital universe.
Last week, we announced our final 2019 event under the aegis of the World Innovators Meet (WIM). This time, we have literally everything on offer to attract your mind: free snacks, a smart audience, up-and-coming startups and top-notch speakers. Meet the latter:
Fang Xin, Baidu Ventures, Vice President
Xin focuses on AI applications in finance, big data, enterprise and automotive industries. Before joining Baidu Ventures, he worked for Renren Investments, where he took part in numerous deals related to leading global startups, including SoFi, FiscalNote, Snowball and Dazhangfang, to name a few.
Baidu Ventures is an independent venture fund established by Baidu (BIDU:Nasdaq) in 2017. It is currently managing roughly USD 500 million, allocated across three funds, with offices in Beijing and San Francisco.
Evgeny Kosolapov, Skolkovo Innovation Center's Representative in China
Representing the Skolkovo Innovation Center, the most significant Russian startup hub, Evgeny has been bridging the two countries' innovative ecosystems since 2011.
Based in Moscow, the Center aims to help startups grow into leading national technology companies and expand globally.
Jason Panyang, Horizon Robotics, Vice President
Heading the firm's Corporate Finance & Strategy department, Jason is a financial and business savant who has previously held positions at Goldman Sachs, Rothschild and Morgan Stanley in London, Shanghai and Hong Kong. He has led the completion of a number of landmark M&As, IPOs and financing transactions in multiple sectors, including artificial intelligence, automotive and semiconductors.
Horizon Robotics is a pioneer in the area of edge AI for Smart Mobility and IoT applications. Led by experts and industry veterans in AI algorithms and processor architecture, Horizon has developed the Brain Processor Unit (BPU), an AI computing architecture that is tailored to address the unique performance and power challenges in edge AI applications. Building on top of BPU, Horizon Robotics provides comprehensive solutions.
Wayne Shiong, China Growth Capital, Partner
Wayne covers frontier technology. His core portfolio includes WeRide, Plus.ai, DeePhi (part of NASDAQ: XLNX), Mech Mind, nreal, AIBEE and Landspace. Prior to joining the team in 2012, he was a partner at Bertelsmann Asia Investments and WI Harper Group.
Founded in 2006, China Growth Capital (CGC) is a China-focused venture capital organization. It primarily invests in seed- and early-stage startups. Managing nearly USD 1.1 billion across several funds, the firm also assists startups with talent acquisition, go-to-market strategies, customer referral and opinion leadership marketing. CGC's portfolio includes companies such as SMZDM (300785:SZ), MissFresh, Wish, Klook, Tongdun, Tiger Brokers (TIGR:Nasdaq), BeyondHost (now part of Meituan 03690:HK), 2Dfire, PingCAP, DeePhi, AIBEE, EasyLinkin, Landspace and WeRide.
Yichi Zhang, Flip The Script, Founder
Forbes 30 under 30, Yichi studied finance and international business in the University of Richmond. After completing internships with Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, he declined his job offers on Wall Street right before graduation and decided to pursue a career in the world of creativity: branding and advertising.
In 2017, he founded branding agency Flip The Script (反客为主), which, since then, has served Coca-Cola (KO:NYSE), Air China (753:HK), Under Armour (UAA:NYSE), Hilton (PK:NYSE) and some other big clients.
Check out the list and the agenda, decide you can't miss it, and we'll see you on December 27 in Beijing.
(the list of speakers is presented in alphabetical order by surname)