The Guangzhou Life Sciences Incubator, established by the Israel-Guangzhou Investment Group earlier this year, announced Wednesday its first partnership with an Israeli incubator, Haifa-based MindUP.
MindUP, a digital health incubator, is a joint venture of Medtronic, IBM, Pitango Venture Capital and Rambam Medical Center, in collaboration with the Israel Innovation Authority.
“This is an additional step in building a strong relationship between the city of Guangzhou and the life sciences industry in Israel,” said Dr. Shuki Gleitman, head of the Israel-Guangzhou Investment Group.
“We are at the beginning of a process that already includes the Guangzhou Sino-Israel Biotech Investment Fund and now also the incubator,” Gleitman said.
The agreement with MindUP provides guidance for the establishment of a “parallel incubator,” under which the Guangzhou government will invest in Israeli companies while assisting them to penetrate the Chinese market.
“Our portfolio companies, like many other companies in digital health and other areas, are very much interested in the huge Chinese market,” said Dan Shwarzman, CEO of MindUP.
“The cooperation with the Guangzhou Life Sciences Incubator may accelerate the process and make it easier for our companies to get familiar with the Chinese market, to adjust the solutions developed by them to the unique needs of this market and to establish a strong base in China,” he said.
In August, the Israel-Guangzhou Investment Group teamed up with the Guangzhou government to launch the life sciences incubator in the city’s Bio-Island industrial park.
The program is based on the Israeli incubation model, knowledge and method. The incubator is controlled by the Israeli group and enjoys financial support from the Chinese government.