Chinese technology incubator opens first Canadian office
University of Alberta partnership led to TusStar’s presence locally
China’s biggest network of incubators is set to open its first Canadian office in Edmonton, a move that will open up one of the world’s largest markets to Alberta technology innovators.
The University of Alberta’s relationship with Chinese education powerhouse Tsinghua University helped attract the company, TusStar, to the provincial capital city and the downtown headquarters of TEC Edmonton.
TusStar — with more than 80 incubators in 45 Chinese cities and its holding company, Tus Holdings, which boasts assets of more than $70 billion — is owned by Tsinghua University.
Tsinghua and Alberta’s largest university have had a long-standing partnership for more than a decade and currently more than 100 Tsinghua alumni are involved with the University of Alberta as either faculty or post-doctoral researchers.
TEC Edmonton is a non-profit joint venture between the University of Alberta and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation.
“This is a really significant deal,” TEC Edmonton chief executive officer Chris Lumb said of a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year with TusStar in Beijing.
“There is a strong motivation on both sides to access each other’s markets.”
It could also be a significant deal for the University of Alberta, which has already seen noteworthy success with its technology spinoff.
Through licence, rental and contributions to research revenue as well as cashed-in equity, TEC Edmonton in a little over a decade has added more than $70 million to the university’s balance sheet.
As part of the partnership, TusStar will offer business advice on things like access to market and the role of the state on legal and regulatory issues. And, for the right kind of ventures, it will invest in companies through its “multimillion-dollar investment funds.”
“The Chinese market is really hard to access if you don’t have connections to China and if you don’t understand how business works in China,” said Lumb.
“It’s a highly competitive commercial economy.”
Chinese companies wanting access to North American markets and to establish headquarters in Edmonton or Alberta will be able to seek similar advice from TEC Edmonton, Lumb said.
The relationship is already starting to bear fruit with TusStar introducing several Chinese companies interested in accessing the North America markets with TEC Edmonton.
“Young Albertan companies developing export markets grow business here and that grows revenue and reputation of the region and brings money into Alberta,” said Lumb.
On the flip side, Chinese companies basing themselves in Edmonton ensures “significant new economic activity plus increased trade connections to a growing market,” he added.
“China is an economic powerhouse that is just growing at a phenomenal rate and it’s expanding its capability to be even more of an influence around the world more rapidly.”
China is an economic powerhouse that is just growing at a phenomenal rate.