Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground for 21 years, and competing for the peak together!

On July 23, 2023, the final of the 21st China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition was held at the Antai College of Economics and Management (ACEM), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). After several rounds of selection, 17 participating teams from 17 business schools across the country finally competed on the same stage for the peak together. In the end, the project “Zero-backlash Integrated Flexible Joint Module” from Xi'an Jiaotong University won the championship, the project “Polyimide Foam - Aikexin” from Tsinghua University and the project “Domestic Immunotherapy for Hematological Cancers” from Nankai University won the second and third place respectively.

Jiang Wenning, Secretary of the Party Committee of ACEM; YIN Haitao, Associate Dean of ACEM; and DONG Zhengying, Deputy Director of the Student Innovation Center and Director of the Antai MBA Program, SJTU, attended the final. More than 400 guests from all over the country watched the entire event on site, and the competition attracted more than ten central and local portal media to report on the event. The final was also live-streamed online.

Since its launch in 2002, the China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition has been upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and committed to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship education in business schools, as well as cultivating entrepreneurial talents. The competition has received increasing support from business schools and recognition from MBA students, and its influence is growing. The number of participating institutions and teams is steadily increasing, and the quality of participating projects is constantly improving. For this reason, Jiang Wenning, Secretary of the Party Committee of ACEM, pointed out in his opening speech that for the 21 years of China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition, it has always been upholding three principles, that is, always giving priority to the cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents, leading the direction of MBA innovation and entrepreneurship with the competition, and applying what has been learned & turning advantages into victories.

At the opening ceremony, Yin presented the "Excellent Organization Award" to 12 individuals, including DING Xueting from Chongqing University, who actively promoted and organized the competition, and achieved remarkable results.

Technological innovation leads the future, with numerous highlights in participating projects

      In the final, DONG Zhanbin, founding partner of Qingsong Fund; HAN Yuze, founding partner & chairman of NewMargin Ventures; HUANG Yiqun, partner of CoStone Capital Angel Fund; LIU Xiaoying, founding partner of Eagles Fund; QIAN Xuefeng, chairman of New Access Capital; QU Weidong, founding partner of Donglin Capital; and SONG Anlan, partner of SBCVC, were invited to serve as judges. DONG Zhengying, Deputy Director of the Student Innovation Center and Director of the Antai MBA Program, SJTU, read out the competition rules. Then, the 17 teams took the stage for a roadshow one by one.

       A total of 358 teams from 69 business schools participated in this competition. After three rounds of selection, including on-campus competition, preliminary competition, and semi-finals, 17 projects emerged and advanced to the final. These projects mainly cover fields such as artificial intelligence, healthcare, clean energy, new materials, high-end manufacturing, and new cultural & creative industries. Over 80% of them are in high-tech industries encouraged by the state for development. The projects stick tightly to the hot spots and combine technology application with business model innovation, with numerous highlights.

       To achieve a good ranking, not only technology content, but also technology innovation is required. Seen from the top four participating projects, three of them are pioneering in China, solving the stranglehold problem. For example, the Zero-backlash Integrated Flexible Joint Module independently developed by the team of Xi'an Jiaotong University is an original product in the world, breaking the long-standing monopoly of robot components by foreign manufacturers through technological innovation and capturing the picky eyes of judges. The polyimide foam independently developed by Tsinghua University, is the only project in China to achieve high-standard mass production, solving the stranglehold problem in the field of thermal insulation materials and thus sharing dividend from a market of 100 billion. The fourth place winning project is from the overseas Chinese entrepreneurship team of Jinan University Singapore MBA program, who developed China's first handheld network authentication testing device. Its significance is not only in competition of product and technology, but also in grasping the control of standard for the digital economy. We should strive for self-improvement and be the light of the world. These projects not only won the favor of the judges, but also the respect of the entire audience.

Replacing imports, reducing costs, and benefiting the public, these projects were highly praised by the judges due to their down-to-earth nature and huge market potential. The project “Domestic Immunotherapy for Hematological Cancers” from Nankai University, the project “Preparation of Chiral Materials Based on Synthetic Biology” from Nanjing University, and the project “Mobile CT+DSA Dual-mode Imaging Equipment” from Tianjin University all belong to "import substitution" in the field of medical and health care, focusing on people's lives and health, and making technology “warmer”.

New energy technology empowers the goal of “carbon dioxide emissions peaking and carbon neutrality” and leads green development. Although the highlights of these projects are not as prominent as "stranglehold" and "domestic substitution", they were still favored by some judges. The project “Solar Photovoltaic Hydrogen Production” from Beijing Institute of Technology and the project “New Phase Change Energy Storage, Leading Green Life” from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, received attention from several judges after the competition, as well as attention and inquiry from quite a few investors and industry professionals who observed on-site and online, with broad market prospects.

Six of the judges have served as judges for several sessions of entrepreneurship competition. In their post-competition reviews, they unanimously agreed that the project style of this year's entrepreneurship competition has changed significantly from the past, tending to be more technology-oriented and more "authentic". The vast majority of participating projects have seized the hot spots and focused on the "eye-catching" segments, thus having a very good foundation for growth and great investment value. At the competition venue, judges frequently offered their willing to invest or connect with industrial capital. The atmosphere was heated and the entrepreneurial dreams were ignited.

Learning, communication, and empowerment, to enhance the platform value of entrepreneurship competition

The China MBA Entrepreneurship Competition is not only a stage for competition, but also a platform for learning, communication, and empowerment. On the day before the final, the sponsor carefully organized an entrepreneurship training camp activity. Unlike the entrepreneurship elite class before competition, the entrepreneurship training camp focuses on cultivating innovative thinking and entrepreneurial spirit, and guiding future entrepreneurial development. Pan Jianchen, Chairman of Pivot Investment, shared with the participating teams the improvement of the core competitiveness of start-ups. He analyzed various challenges and main reasons that start-ups may face in a simple and concise manner, and proposed effective suggestions for improving core competitiveness from the perspective of interest mechanisms. Qian Xuefeng, Chairman of New Access Capital, took the current AIGC field, which is a hotspot, as an example to analyze its entrepreneurial and investment opportunities, and encouraged participating teams to understand how to take advantage of the situation, make good use of AIGC, and add technological wings to their entrepreneurial projects.

In the capital connection meeting for entrepreneurial projects, the organizing committee thoughtfully invited 5 entrepreneurial tutors who have served as preliminary judges for this competition and provided one-on-one guidance for advancing to the final. They set up "booths" to meet, communicate and share experiences with entrepreneurial teams that they evaluated and coached remotely, and provide advice on the competition.

The platform of the entrepreneurship competition is a platform for mutual learning, communication, and cooperation among the participating teams. Before the competition, the sponsor organized a welcome dinner & communication meeting, allowing 17 participating teams to introduce themselves and showcase themselves. It was also hoped that through this platform, more cooperation and communication opportunities could be created among the participating teams.

After the competition, a grand closing ceremony was held, where the award-winning teams were presented with awards. Dong Zhengying, Deputy Director of the Student Innovation Center and Director of the Antai MBA Program, presented the "Excellent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Tutor" award, to recognize the hard work of the tutors of the 17 participating teams. Yin Haitao, Associate Dean of ACEM, gave a summary of the competition, summarizing the growth and development of the entrepreneurship competition in the past 21 years with a highly condensed word, "persistence". He expressed gratitude for the efforts of the sponsor team, the support of the co-sponsors, co-organizers, and various participating business schools, the participation of all participating team members, and the companionship of judges and entrepreneurship tutors during this long and persistent process.

For the 21 years, we have persisted in hard working and progress, to achieve immortality in the changing times. The MBA Entrepreneurship Competition has been accompanying the growth of students and propelling us to the sea of work and entrepreneurship. We hope that all participating students do not forget their original aspirations, be creative, and work hard on the path of entrepreneurship.