September 13th, Shanghai. 8AM. There was anticipation and excitement in the air. NewCo attendees arrived at the cozy, wood-laden office of Chinaccelerator in the flourishing downtown of Shanghai beside the famous Jing’an Temple.
“Nothing like this existed in China before, where you get to visit the offices of the hottest internet companies in China and learn from the management what makes their companies tick,” said William Bao Bean, Managing Director of Chinaccelerator, which brought NewCo to Asia for the first time.
Last week, Toronto became the 16th major urban centre in the world to join the NewCo Festival family, recently completing a day-long NewCo Festival that drew nearly 700 first-time registrants and 38 NewCo host organizations.
We’re thrilled to announce that NewCo is partnering with Chinaccelerator to produce the first ever NewCo festival in Asia. NewCo Shanghai is first up on the fall NewCo tour, which also includes Toronto, Barcelona, Istanbul and Mexico City.
The Shanghai skyline
On September 13th, more than 20 mission-driven companies across Shanghai will open their doors and welcome intimate groups of NewCo festival attendees into their workspaces. Shanghai has a rapidly evolving tech industry and exciting international dynamics. Every year more companies move to Shanghai, including our NewCo partner Chinaccelerator which moved there three years ago. (Our US readers might have heard of their sister company IndieBio, based in the SF Bay area).
We’ve been eager to expand NewCo to China, and we’re looking forward to working with Chinaccelerator. NewCo’s unique “inside out” approach affords festival goers a view into the vibrant business ecosystem in Shanghai. Industries such as big data, machine learning, AI, ad-tech, education, and cloud computing will be highlighted in the first-year festival. NewCo Beijing will be added in 2017, and we are equally thrilled to show off the innovation and positive change being championed by companies in that city.
Six Hidden Gems to See at NewCo’s Fifth Annual Bay Area Festival 2017
This coming February, we’re excited to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Bay Area NewCo festival. Over 150 NewCo’s — from established players to scrappy startups — will open their doors and show how they’re transforming industries and shaping the future of business. While it’s certain that sessions at Slack, LinkedIn, Uber, and Pinterest will sell out early, here are six less well known, but truly fascinating companies I’m particularly excited to see. Read more …
