With the growing atmosphere of double-entrepreneurship, more and more people are opting for tech start-ups in Shanghai. In line with the enthusiastic entrepreneurs, the emerging Shanghai technology services industry is gradually emerging. These technology service enterprises are shifting from the traditional single service to the whole entrepreneurial process, from outsider services to partner services, "early intervention, personal service, tide over difficulties together" has become the label of cooperation between more and more technology service enterprises and startups. The survival and success rates of technology startups have been greatly improved after receiving help from technology service enterprises. Eggplant (Shanghai) Management Consulting Company Limited is one such technology service enterprise.

Focusing on startups

Having started her own business and served as an entrepreneurial mentor, Lulu Jia Ling has transformed herself into a technology services provider. As chairman of the board at Cheese (Shanghai) Management Consulting, Lulu Jia Ling built Cheese Chowder, a business incubation and technology transfer platform. "Eggplant Chowder focuses on higher growth space areas such as integrated circuits, biotechnology and high-end manufacturing, serving the current technology-driven transformation of China." He said, "We take it as our mission to promote innovation, transformation and growth of technology-based enterprises."

Tapping into technology projects from universities and research institutes is Eggplant Chowder's specialty. "Traditional manufacturing companies need to be transformed and upgraded and desperately need new technology blood injected into them. We then dock the technology from research institutes into these enterprises." Ling Lu Jia says proudly, "Being able to judge the suitability of these technologies relies heavily on the strong advisory board behind the company, including experts in integrated circuits, medical devices, smart manufacturing and other fields. And our main areas of operation are also focused on these areas."

Unlike traditional consulting firms that serve large corporations, Lingluja is clear that Eggplant Chowder's target group is small entrepreneurial teams or startups. "They are the ones that need the most help from technology services," Lingluja says bluntly, "especially tech startups, which are mostly technically skilled but lack in management, marketing, and operations and maintenance." Eggplant Chowder's approach is to work deeply with startups early on to improve their success rate. This service model doesn't lead to profitability at first, even though many services need to be provided by Eggplant Chowder for free. However, once the startup enters growth and is integrated into the chain, the eggplant chowder will pay off.

Ling Lucha also admits that startups need different resources, often far more than the energy of Chowder itself, which makes Chowder progressively closer to a platform. For example, when a startup needs capital, Chowder will match it with venture capitalists to attract them to invest in the business.

Going abroad to "pick peaches."

A Shanghai-based technology company that develops software for materials and integrated circuits is a client of Chowder of Eggplant. Ling Lu Jia said: "It is our first-hand service out. We spotted the company when it was a start-up. We helped the business find venture capital and coached it to integrate into the stock market." Not long ago, the company was planning to acquire an overseas partner company in order to enhance its technological strength and R&D capabilities. Once the acquisition is successful, it will greatly enhance its technological strength and competitiveness.

However, as a newcomer to the industry, this high-tech enterprise in Shanghai has never experienced an acquisition before. The management of the company was in the stage of "amateur" in terms of the process, subject and mode of acquisition, etc. The complex shareholding structure of the proposed acquisition and the difficult financial arrangements involved in the foreign acquisition left the management of the company scratching their heads.

With the help of the Eastern National Technology Transfer Center, Chowder provided full M&A advisory services and assisted the company in resolving the business, legal, and financial issues during the overseas acquisition process, which resulted in the successful completion of the overseas technology acquisition. The company also received policy support from the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Voucher.

"To be able to allow startups to go abroad to 'pick peaches' is a reflection of the internationalization of the transformation of Shanghai's scientific and technological achievements on the one hand, and the upgrading of our scientific and technological services industry on the other," Ling Lujia said ambitiously.

(Source: Shanghai Science and Technology News, Geng Ting)