The final of the 20th China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition in 2022 was successfully concluded on November 13th, 2022. 16 teams from 16 business schools across the country competed the last competition online and onsite. Finally, the perovskite solar cell and laminated battery project from Xi'an Jiaotong University won the championship, meanwhile the hydrogen-based technology project of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the intelligent vision equipment leadership project for steel industry of Jiangnan University won the second place and the third place respectively. Besides, 16 tutors, including Li Guo from Beijing Institute of Technology, etc. won the honorary title of Excellent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Tutor in the competition. 

Prof. Chen Fangruo, Dean of Antai College of Economics and Management (ACEM) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) said in his opening speech on the same day that, as a branded entrepreneurship platform for 20 years, China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition keeps pace with the times by exploration and innovation. Through the three key elements of curriculum, tutor and capital connection, the competition has been built into a multi-level practical training platform, and the competition will also become one of the most effective ways to transform students' entrepreneurial ideas into reality.

Prof. Chen also said that under the dual influences of the pandemic and the huge changes in the world, the entrepreneurship competition pays more attention to science and technology, talent and innovation, as well as encourages and advocates MBA students to apply what they have learned, open up new domains and new tracks for development, and constantly shape new advantages of new growth momentum.

Due to the impact of the pandemic, this entrepreneurship competition was changed from an open contest to an invitational one. Altogether 16 well-known business schools were invited to participate. "Less quantity but not less quality." The organizer strengthened the organization of the event, and opened the third phase of entrepreneurship elite class, including 8 excellent courses open to all participating schools, which led to more than 5,000 online training attendances, meanwhile it also organized "one-on-one" guidance by promotional project entrepreneurship tutor, which further helped sort out the project's business model and improve the project quality. This national final was also carefully orchestrated, with repeated online and offline rehearsals, providing great technical support to meet the team members' participation experience as much as possible.

Artificial intelligence, new energy and metaverse became the highlights of the competition. The 16 projects shortlisted in this final involved many industrial fields, such as artificial intelligence, high-end manufacturing industry, hi-tech materials, new energy, virtual reality, mega health, environmental protection, logistics, etc., most of which fall into the category of the industrial fields encouraged by the state. Many projects are supported by both technologies and innovative business models and modern marketing approachess to promote the integration of engineering technology and business management, thus demonstrating MBA students' strength to learn for application and harmonize theory and practice.

The highlight is that MBA startups are better at translating some very cutting-edge technologies into application scenarios in practical segments, therefore a corridor has been built to connect industry, academics, and research for the mission of "two types of scholarship, horizontal (academic) and vertical (industry), reinforcing each other and connecting theory with practice", which underlines the societal value of MBA entrepreneurship. For example, the application scenarios of artificial intelligence with increasingly mature technologies are becoming broader. Jiangnan University secures its position in the R&D and manufacturing of intelligent vision equipment in steel industry. In the meantime, the intelligent painless venous puncture robot invented by Tongji University improves medical quality, and Wuhan University builds energy-saving cloud control platform for centralized air conditioning system in the smart city, and Xiamen University uses AI technology to create outdoor advertising supervision products. Most of these projects have been made into products and applied in practice.

The metaverse technology that has emerged in recent years has been applied by Sichuan University to the field of interaction between brand and consumer, while Zhejiang University has applied the metaverse to the technological innovation and transformation scenarios, and Nankai University has integrated the metaverse with digital technology to create a cloud exhibition hall. Different scenarios and routes boast their own advantages. In this year's very popular new energy field, Shanghai Jiao Tong University's "hydrogen-based technology" aims at the energy exchange of in-vehicle hydrogen fuel battery and the design of hydrogen-making system, while Xi'an Jiaotong University focuses on the industrial application of the most cutting-edge perovskite solar cells and laminated batteries, which are unique and highly recognized by the judges.

Cheng Fang, President of Shanghai Guohe Investment, Dong Zhanbin, Founding Partner of Qingsong Capital, Han Yuze, Founding Partner and Chairman of New Margin Ventures, Huang Yiqun, Partner of CoStone Capital's Angel Fund, Qian Xuefeng, Chairman of New Access Capital, Wang Xiaoming, Chairman of EBI Investment, Zhang Jun, Chairman of Zhong Ou Asset Management and former Vice President of Huawei, served as judges of this final competition. The judges made wonderful comments on the whole competition and agreed that this competition could be regarded brilliant. The participating teams had a good grasp of the main startup focus. The hi-tech entrepreneurial projects obviously represented the mainstream, and the concept of China-made substitution became the winner. The judges believed that the metaverse and new energy will be a very strong entrepreneurial domain in China in the future, especially because the metaverse belongs to the young people, which is full of imagination. It is hoped that the participating teams will seize the opportunity. The passion of the entrepreneurial startup team also touched the judges on site. The judges expressed their willingness to offer more guidance to the teams before the competition in the future, such as the refinement of business model and the improvement on roadshow skills, which is expected to further improve the quality of the competition. The judges also hoped that since the team members want to start a business, they must have a strong business awareness, learn about lean startup, identify the pain point of customers to be addressed specifically, and then truly bear the fruit.

Following the competition, China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition held a grand closing ceremony and awarded prizes to the winning teams.

Prof. Dong Zhengying, Deputy Director of Student Innovation Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Director of MBA Program of Antai College of Economics and Management, attended the closing ceremony and made a summary remark. Prof. Dong thanked the participating schools for overcoming difficulties and actively organizing the event, and also thanked the staff of the organizing committee for carefully preparing the event for more than half a year. Prof. Dong expressed his gratitude to the judges for their wonderful comments and pertinent suggestions. The competition was more exciting because of all of you. In closing, he hoped that all participating teams would gain growth and friendship through the competition.

The final of this China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition also arranged online live broadcast. Sina Finance, Xueshuo, Eastmoney and other platforms broadcast the competition at the same time, meanwhile CCTV News, Radio Shanghai and other dozens of media reported the competition.

Attachment: List of Winners of National Final of the 20th China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition 2022

Attachment: Excellent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Tutor Award of China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition 2022 (listed alphabetically by award-winning schools)

https://mba.sjtu.edu.cn/news/projectnews/73349.html