Dao Ventures Launches 2018 US-China Impact Venture Contest

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In 2018, Dao Ventures, a Sino-US impact investment and accelerator group, will join forces again with the Dongsheng Science and Technology Park in Zhongguancun, China's Silicon Valley, to launch the 4th annual Dongsheng-Dao Ventures US-China Entrepreneurship Competition which is considered the only impact venture contest across the Pacific.

In 2017, the annual Competition won a Bronze Award in Regionalism and Cross-Border Collaboration from the International Economic Development Council, as submitted and represented by Arlington Economic Development (AED) that has served as the Competition's U.S. partner for the last three years.

Aside from the cross-border and internationalization aspect of the Competition, what particularly differentiates the Dongsheng-Dao Ventures Competition is that it has included environmental and social impact as a key part of its selection and evaluation criteria as guided by Dao Ventures, a consortium of various impact entities that overall has supported over 1,000 impact ventures in both China and internationally so far.

Most of the 35 finalists and all the top winners from the past three years who advanced to the Beijing Grand Final were considered environmental and/or social impact ventures, and all the top winners received cash grant awards, travelling stipends and mentoring services from Dao Ventures.

Similar to last year, in addition to the Greater Washington region as the main venue, Dao Ventures will also focus on recruiting applicants from the Boston/Cambridge area where some of the well-known US institutions of higher education are concentrated, with the objective of attracting more aspiring young entrepreneurs across the Pacific. Dao Ventures is also looking to recruit applicants from Silicon Valley and Canada this year.

"As always, what we are looking from applicants are both a viable business model and its social and/or environmental impact. This is a critical moment for the US-China business relationship, and we at Dao Ventures firmly believe that a proactive approach to catalyzing and promoting cross-border collaboration between the two largest economies in the world, with a focus on creating positive social/environmental impact via entrepreneurship, is particularly needed at this juncture," said Tao Zhang, Founding Managing Director of Dao Ventures.

Whether an applicant is a solid business initiative still in the garage, a seed-stage start-up company or an emerging SME looking to scale up, they are all welcome to apply to the 2018 Competition. Besides, applicants are not limited to only those who look to do business and make an impact in China ? U.S. and international ventures purely focusing on the domestic market for now but with global potential are equally encouraged by Dao Ventures to apply and participate. The sector focus of the Competition encompasses environmental, internet technology, food tech, media, healthcare, education, and fintech.

The impact ventures will be competing to win the following prizes and/or benefits:

• RMB 1million (~$150,000) top award at the Beijing Global Final
• Cash grant awards and mentoring services for top winners from the U.S. Final Competition
• An invitation to participate in the Beijing Global Final via a live entrepreneurship TV show
• Free office space for up to one year in the Dongsheng-Dao Ventures International Accelerator in Beijing under the joint New Ventures Global initiative between Dao Ventures and Dongsheng
• Brand marketing, publicity, and media promotion
• U.S.-China cross-border consulting, mentoring and capacity building services

Application is free and easy. Applicants will just need to use a few minutes to fill out and submit an application form at http://www.daoventures.com/application to start the journey. Registration for applications will be closed on November 12, 2018, and the final competition in the U.S. is currently scheduled to be held at Arlington Economic Development at 1100 N. Glebe Road, Suite 1500, Arlington, Virginia on November 29, 2018. The language of this U.S.-based event will be English throughout the Competition.

The Competition focused on impact ventures has won support and attention from different stakeholders over the past years, including both prominent U.S. and Chinese media outlets which have covered this event.

Please contact Dao Ventures at [email protected] if there is any general inquiry about this Competition. For media inquiries, please contact Tim Yin at [email protected].

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About Dao Ventures

Dao Ventures is a U.S.-China cross-border impact investment, advisory and accelerator consortium of companies and affiliates that have consecutively established and encompassed China Impact Fund, ACBridge Global Advisors, New Ventures Global, Dao Foods International, and its affiliate not-for-profit program Green Startups Accelerator (formerly New Ventures China) housed at the Beijing-based Institute for Environment and Development. Via its myriad entities and services, Dao Ventures' focus is to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) primarily in the environmental and technology sectors whose businesses, technologies and/or products can have a positive impact on China and by extension, make China and the world a better place to live in. For more details, please visit http://www.daoventures.com.

About Dongsheng Science & Technology Park

Dongsheng Science and Technology Park, covering a surface area of over 4 square kilometers and a total construction area of 3 million square meters, is located at Zhongguancun, China's equivalent of Silicon Valley. Dongsheng is China's leading incubator plus accelerator for startup ventures, with a focus on high-tech sectors such as alternative energy, new materials, energy saving and environmental protection, and healthcare. Over 300 Chinese startup ventures have so far been incubated and accelerated at Dongsheng.

SOURCE Dao Ventures