Intel injects new investments to eight Chinese startups in the robotics, data and cloud sectors. (Photo : Reuters)
Several major Internet firms in China, including Alibaba and Jingdong Mall, have established colleges to nurture new talents that will support development and startups, the Southern Weekly reported.
The competing colleges could also become the new business sources for the Internet firms, the report added.
According to the article, Alibaba has set up Lakeside University in Hangzhou, where more than 30 people have already enlisted for the university's first class. Jack Ma, the university president, also doubles as a lecturer for a course mainly for startup founders, teaching them on the lessons of startup success and failure.
On the other hand, Liu Qiangdong, founder of Jingdong Mall, who also serves as president of Jingdong Zhongchuang College, lectures on management.
Ma Chenggong, Jingdong's executive president, said that unlike Lakeside University, which assists entrepreneurs by providing management knowledge and skills, their school aims to attract startup founders and connect them with angel fund managers.
The report said that Lakeside University students pay a tuition of 280,000 yuan ($45,000) a year and required to personally attend five-day courses once every two months. On the contrary, Jingdong students are tuition-free.
The Internet firms expect to tap the market for startup services by setting up the colleges, a move which has a huge potential with the rising trend in startup across the country.
The report said that the startup trend has produced a host of service providers, as well as workshops and startup competitions, sponsored by various media and consulting firms. To give startups further exposure, venues have sprung up including startup cafes that serve as offices, and brokerage platforms that connect startup founders and investors, the report added.
Ma said that Jingdong Zhongchuang College does not only serve as a service platform for startups but also as a gateway of resources and trust, fusing the ties between Jingdong and startups for their mutual benefit.
