The 2020 "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition Finals is held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province on Nov 24. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2020 "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition Finals was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province on Nov 24, with 10 projects in the fields of artificial intelligence, large-scale integrated circuits, and biotechnology standing out and demonstrating the infinite possibilities of the internet.

As an important part of the World Internet Conference, the "Straight to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition has been set up since last year to provide a broader stage for global internet start-ups and growing companies, while also exploring emerging forces in internet development.

Since the event was launched in May this year, it has attracted more than 1,000 projects from 15 countries, including the United States, Germany, Canada, and Israel, covering the fields of consumer internet, key technical services, electronic products, and entertainment. The projects have participated in a special event, five domestic and regional semi-finals, as well as three overseas regional semi-finals.

A judge asks questions at the competition. [Photo by Xiao Da/chinadaily.com.cn]

The 10 shortlisted projects carried out roadshows at the finals, as well as answered questions and received guidance from a panel of judges composed of senior investors, representatives of leading internet companies, and academic experts.

The One-Stop Digital Fishing Service Platform of Ningbo Haishangxian Information Technology Co Ltd won first prize at the competition.

According to Ye Ning, the founder of Haishangxian Co, the platform is based on the Beidou Navigation Satellite System and focuses on maritime communications, seafood matchmaking, supply chain finance, as well as smart refueling. It can effectively bolster the travel safety of fishermen, improve seafood transactions and efficiency, as well as promote fishery development.

The Rapid Deployment SAAS Chemical Industry plus Internet Platform, the QTShe: Post-pandemic Part-time Job Recruitment Platform, and the Independent Controllable High-Speed and Highly Reliable Protocol Communication Chip won the second prize award.

The remaining six projects won the third prize award, including the "AI+ Security": building proactive security defense system, the Multi-Functional Integrated Converting Station for Electric Automobile Charging/Converting/Storage, the Marginal Cloud Computing Platform and Enterprise AI Cloud Counting Solution, the CMOS Imaging and Spectrum Analysis, the Infimind Technology: Fashion Industry AI Technology and Solution Provider, and the Chigen: Human Genetic Disease Big Data & AI Diagnostic Cloud Platform.

In addition, the QTShe: Post-pandemic Part-time Job Recruitment Platform, and the Independent Controllable High-Speed and Highly Reliable Protocol Communication Chip received the Best Investment Value Award and the Most Innovative Award respectively.

Among the projects participating in the finals, 60 percent of the projects have received round B financing and above, with a valuation of more than 100 million yuan ($15.19 million), half of the projects have started the IPO process, with some companies expected to be listed next year, while at least 30 percent of the projects are valued at over 1 billion yuan.

The finals were conducted in a live streaming mode, attracting a total of 1.26 million viewers.

The competition has provided a stage for domestic and foreign internet innovation, as well as for entrepreneurship teams to display their projects. It also served as a platform for internet projects, technology, talents, and capital cooperation.

In the future, the competition will continue to be committed to promoting global internet collaborative innovation, stimulating the vitality of internet entrepreneurship, gathering young internet talents, carrying out global cooperation in the internet industry, contributing to global internet governance, as well as contributing to the prosperity and the flourishing development of the digital economy.