Right now in China tech, few words get a workout quite like innovation.

From government policy to the factory floor, the industry is turning itself inside out in an attempt to shift its rep from assemblers to innovators. The country is shaking off its copy-cat reputation to embrace new ideas in some of the fastest growing verticals in the world. Buoyed by a massive population, with an insatiable appetite for all things connected, Chinese entrepreneurs are behind some leading innovations in e-commerce, IoT and offline-to-offline services.

It’s all got us bursting with excitement at TechNode, which is why we are beyond thrilled to announce our newest co-working space and accelerator in Shanghai, XNode.

Working spaces in tech have become synonymous with the companies that live in them. From indoor slip and slides to bean bags, whiteboard-walls and standing desks, good tech offices are a reflection of the creativity we enjoy within their walls. At Technode, we love bringing all of that to China.

XNode: World Class Co-Working Spaces For Tech In China

In a 2013 trip to San Francisco, TechNode’s founder Dr. Gang Lu listened in on a speech from Ducan Logan, the founder of  Rocket Space, about the benefit of co-working spaces. Despite rapid growth in the number of competitive tech startups over the past few years, China’s office culture couldn’t be more distant from Silicon Valley, so Gang decided to bring co-working spaces home with him.

Later that year, TechNode rolled out our first workplace program, ‘the Node,’ in the heart of Beijing’s creative district, 798. Since the end of 2014, the Node began to record profits with several hosted companies including Taihuoniao, Jiae, Teambition, MoNo and Nashangban, receiving funding for different stages.

And we want to do more on this. By end of this year, TechNode will launch three venues in Shanghai at Bay Valley, JingAn, and North Bund. Together with our space in Beijing, we believe we now have some of the coolest working spaces China has to offer.

Designed by top interior designers, the three Shanghai venues together have a capacity of over 1,000 desks, together with a series of open facilities, include lounges, conference rooms, open bar and meditation rooms. XNode also provides a set of other support programs including entrepreneur seminars, salons and one-to-one tutoring with experts from internet giants such as Google, Amazon, Baidu, Tencent, Uber etc as well as international law firms and cooperate partners.

Shanghai is just the beginning of the XNode’s network. XNode will be landing in domestic cities including Beijing, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu etc, and partnerships with overseas cities will be announced soon.

The XNode Philosophy

To us, co-working centers are startup projects all by themselves. The ‘hardware’, is the real estate. It has to be comfortable, convenient, affordable and most importantly, inspiring. Our software is the culture we create within those walls, combining our wonderful network of tutors, investors, startups, media and creative partners.

In Chinese,  XNode is “创极无限”, meaning limitless innovation. We focus on nurturing the spirit of the geek and the unending quest for perfection. For us, XNode is not just a business, its our way of giving back to a community that has given us incredible insight into China’s tech landscape. Chinese entrepreneurs are increasingly eager to tap the global market, and at XNode, we want to help that happen by stimulating an innovation environment that is as global as the tech we love.

XNode is about building  a complete startup ecosystem, for Chinese startups and also for International startups which want to enter Chinese market. All hosted startup teams, no matter which city they are based in, will have the opportunity to get in touch with top investors, as well as the chance to join our XFounder Club, a community of fellow entrepreneurs. All activities and events organized by TechNode, ranging from startup salons to conferences, are geared to inspire and involve those who work with us as well as the wider community.

Check back with TechNode to hear more about our ecosystem, and sign up to our mailing list for news on XNode events as well as news about our terrific bunch of startups.

XNode | Yanpu office is now soft open, and our wonderful operation team is there waiting for you! Do drop us an email on contact At thexnode.com.

xnode-team

Emma Lee (Li Xin) was TechNode's e-commerce and new retail reporter until June 2022, when she moved to Sixth Tone to cover technology and consumption. Get in touch with her via lixin@sixthtone.com or Twitter.

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