How come a fishing village can turn in 30 years into one of China's most innovative and productive city? Who are the people making Shenzhen something more than just a huge factory? What startups emerge from a city which mixes a lot of immigrants, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a fondness for shanzhai, China's creative piracy and geekery? We've been attending the Shenzhen Maker Faire in April 2014, and were amazed by both the biggest exhibition of tinkerers and hardware geeks, and the quality of speakers in the conference. We've also spend a day with the teams from HAXLR8R, a proeminent hardware startup accelerator based both in Shenzhen and San Francisco. Follow our journey and discover how the startup scene of Shenzhen has been progressively built, what makes it different from Shanghai or Beijing, meet its key people and events, and do remember the name of this city as it's evolving into an epicenter of tech innovation, both for hardware startup and life sciences with BGI.

1. Shenzhen (China)
innovation ecosystem
Following HAXLR8R Generator 1.2 conference
& the Maker Faire Shenzhen
April 2014

2. Innovation has no place in a global world, it’s everywhere
Innovation ecosystems can learn from one another
Local context matters and should be a source for innovators
This is why…
We’re on a world tour of innovation ecosystems!
We believe…

3. History & context of
innovation in Shenzhen
The migrant city turns into the capital of makers

4. A brief history of Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• 1980s: a fishing village with 300k population
• 2000s: the world factory-city with 15m population, all migrants, entrepreneurs
• 2020: the key component of the Pearl Delta River Megalopolis (50m+ population)

5. A brief history of Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• Before: low-quality, low wages, producing by the millions
• Now: high-quality, scalability, fast-execution
• A new label: Innovate with China

6. A brief history of Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• Shenzhen already reputed to be a tech capital in China, with Tencent
HQ (WeChat: 600m+ subscribers, QQ)
• Turning into the world capital for makers with a virtuous ecosystem
of factories, makers, and entrepreneurs from all China & the world

7. 2020: the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis
Asia 27%
• Hong Kong already rebuilding Kowloon & “New Territories”
• 2020: Pearl River Delta Megalopolis with 50M+ population
• Shenzhen redefining itself as a city for engineers and makers

8. Home of shanzhai, China’s creative pirates
• Shanzhai is a creative way to hack existing product for specific needs
• Shenzhen has them all, weird items made on a small-scale
addressing a specific need
• The connection with the Maker culture is pretty obvious

9. The biggest playground for hardware geeks
• Huaqiang area is the
Mecca for all types of
components and
assistance to make things
• Seeed Maker Map will
help you find your way!
• Do bring a Chinese
speaking friend or beef up
your drawing skills

10. Chinese shanzhai & US makers meet in SZ
• The Chinese shanzhai is the
friendly counterpart of the US
maker
• HAXLR8R is the top hardware
accelerator, with offices in
Shenzhen and San Francisco
• Lots of US-based institutions
interested in the Chinese
maker culture (Institute for the
Future, NYU Shanghai, Hacked
Matter think-tank…)
Left: Mitch Altman, the father of the
hackerspaces. Right: Eric Pan, the
interface between hardware startups and
Chinese factories/suppliers

11. Hardware startups from Shenzhen
Roadie,
a smart guitar tuner
• Not yet billion dollar companies, but all products took
crowdfunding both to raise money and create a 1st community
of early-adopters
Palette, the block-based
custom creative keyboard
WearVigo,
the drowsiness meter
PetCube, the game & video
cube for your pet
Notch,
the motion tracker
Fabule, expressive device
for creative homes

12. Shenzhen innovation
ecosystem today
Pros & Cons, Top Connectors & local best practices

13. Pros and cons of Shenzhen
innovation ecosystem
• A paradise for hardware people, with all the
possible components at hand, for one
purchase or on wholesale
• Higher quality and speed of execution than
before. Cheap “made in China” is not in
Shenzhen!
• Human-size community of people within
local accelerators, interface with factories
• Maker Faire Shenzhen gains traction and
become both a giant showroom and a
conference with good networking
opportunities
• Home of Tencent, a Chinese giant tech
software & social media company, good
synergies can be found with engineers
• Speak Chinese or ask for help (typically with
companies like Seeed Studio)
• Not a market for consumption as such: you
will need to market elsewhere (broader
China, US, Europe)
• Visa policy is not yet adapted to hardware
startups
• Big Chinese city which can be polluted, not
the best conditions of living, especially with
family (though still better than Shanghai or
Beijing)
• Hardware is by no means the same thing than
software: a startup takes more cash, more
time
PROS CONS

14. Top connectors in Shenzhen
Eric Pan (Forbes), founder of SeeedStudio, a
company which curates Shenzhen maker jungle to
make it easy to use for entrepreneurs, organizer of
the Maker Faire
David Li (Twitter), founder of China’s first
hackerspace (Xinjechian), very present in Shenzhen
ecosystem and linked to think and do tanks like
Hacked Matter
Cyril Ebersweiler (Twitter), founder and partner of
HAXLR8R, the hardware-focused accelerator with
offices in Shenzhen and San Francisco
Benjamin Joffe (Twitter), partner at HAXLR8R, has
lived and worked across Asia for more than a decade
in tech related industries

15. Top connectors in Shenzhen
Lyn Jeffrey (bio), cultural anthropologist and research
director for the Institute for the Future, one of the
brain behind MakerCities
Anna Greenspan (bio), philosopher based in
Shanghai and founder of Hacked Matter, a research
hub which explores China tech ecosystem
César Harada (website), living in Hong-Kong where
he builds DIY shapeshifting boats, goes to Shenzhen
to buy his components so he knows the way
Scott Edmunds (bio), Editor at Giga Science and
working with BGI, one of the largest open-biology /
genomics laboratory in the world, with a branch in
Shenzhen

16. Best practices of
Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• The Maker Map made by Seeed Studio, helping you find your way in the
jungle of factories and component resellers. Do pay them a visit as they
are the main interface for Makers not knowing the city

17. Best practices of
Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• The Maker Faire Shenzhen, now an established event gathering both a
crowd of amateurs and family with the expo, and the top thinkers and
speakers in the conference, such as Chris Anderson

18. Best practices of
Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• HAXLR8R, an incubator
specialized on hardware
startups
• A two-country program:
China in Shenzhen, the US in
San Francisco
• A team of international
mentors and great
knowledge of the local scene.

19. Best practices of
Shenzhen innovation ecosystem
• Creation of a new label for the city and the country: “Innovative with China”,
rather than “Made in China”, to reflect the new capabilities of Shenzhen
• The label is a new brand, already used on all Seeed Studio products

20. What’s next for Shenzhen?
Turn makers into B2C businessmen, so far, Shenzhen is better
known for B2B factories and manufacturers. Hardware sells well
though in lesser quantities, specific business skills might be
needed
Improve even more the interface Shenzhen is playing for makers
and startupers from all over the world. The local ecosystem of
factories, funders, events, can be more visible and attractive for
non-Chinese
Get Shenzhen ecosystem ambassadors around the world, where
they can be an entry point. Makers are everywhere, but they
don’t always realize the potential to “innovate with China”

21. Eager to learn about the
other innovation ecosystems?

22. Documenting innovation through key events
Hot posts, interviews, live-tweet, Google Hangouts
Identifying key connectors on & offline
Discovering alternative and emerging innovation ecosystems
Beyond the Silicon Valley, local innovation hotbeds
Tech, Social impact, Education, Life Sciences…
Increasing mobility of innovators and ecosystem enablers
Connecting doers and thinkers through monthly Hangouts
Offering innovation ecosystem enablers to learn and exchange from peers
About our project
A world tour of innovation ecosystems

23. Martin Pasquier
Entrepreneur in
Singapore (social
media agency), long-
time traveller
Mixes economics,
politics and travels to
analyze ecosystems,
reports on innovation
About our team
Analysis, community & network
Anne Lalou
CEO of Innovation
Factory & Web School
Factory in Paris
Transfer knowledge of
ecosystems to new
generation and to a
network of top French
companies
Nicolas Loubet
Serial entrepreneur
in Paris
with 3 companies,
growth hacker
Manages and
nurtures creative
communities
on & offline

24. A world tour of innovation: 2013-2014
SUPPORT US! Travel & time of exploration isn’t free 
 Custom reports on emerging markets & trends
 Workshops, talks on innovation trends
 Connection to key local players for VCs, brands, tech communities

25. • A portrait of Eric Pan, founder of Seeed Studio, in Forbes
• The link to the precious Maker Map of Shenzhen
• An article of The Economist on tech hubs, and how Shenzhen
fares
• The Guardian wrap-up with an angle on the politics of the
Maker movement
More on Shenzhen startup & innovation scenes
Resources

26. Thanks!
Martin Pasquier, for Innovation is Everywhere
martin@innovationiseverywhere.com