TechCrunch Hangzhou: How industry leaders are challenging the status quo

Jun 22, 2018

5 min read

Since the advent of the Information Age, it has been more and more difficult to manage innovation. Many companies and industries did not know how to respond to changing times and compete in the new digital age. This is what makes today’s leaders extraordinary—their vision and direction allowed them to pave the way forward. At the upcoming TechCrunch International Innovation Summit, you will get the chance to meet leaders on the front line of tech innovation.

We are currently experiencing the 4^th Industrial Revolution, with AI and Cloud Computing at the center. After years of development in AI, entrepreneurs are sensing fast-approaching changes. Meanwhile, China is rising quickly on the international AI stage. With China’s growing influence in AI globally, there has been an influx of AI experts coming into the country to experience it first-hand.

Xu Bing

Co-founder, SenseTime

Xu Bing is responsible for SenseTime’s investment and financial affairs, participates in the company’s strategic decision-making, formulates its long-term development plan, and promotes the company to become the AI unicorn with the highest amount of global financing. Xu Bing made significant achievements in investment and financing. He dominated the multi-round financing of SenseTime. At the same time, Xu Bing is also responsible for the establishment and management of the SenseTime Artificial Intelligence Industry Fund. Up to now, the total financing of SenseTime has exceeded $1.6 billion, and its valuation exceeds $4.5 billion.

China will lead the world in AI

July 2nd 10:35 – 10:50

China is the most innovative market in the world, its strength in research leading AI development on the front line. As the leading representative in China AI, SenseTime Technology currently has the largest team, the most commercial orders, income and funding. In line with the company ideology to “Keep original, lead human progress with AI,” Shangyang hopes to enhance human vision and efficiency, provide convenience, inspire creativity, and bring happiness through research and application of computer vision and deep learning with AI. At TechCrunch Hangzhou, Xu Bing, co-founder of SenseTime, will speak about how China will lead AI globally.

Fu Yingbo

CEO, Face++

Fu Yingbo has more than 10 years of technology and management experience in the field of mobile Internet and cloud computing. He has worked for many of the world’s top 500 companies such as Electronic Arts (EA) and Microsoft, and engaged in technical, sales and strategic business cooperation. During his work at EA, he led the EA Digital Platforms Division in China and contributed to several top-level products including “Need for Speed”, “FIFA Online”, “The Sims”, and their successful distribution in China. He’s a two-time receiver of the CEO Award. During his career at Microsoft, he served as chief strategic business advisor, working hard to integrate Microsoft with domestic companies, government business applications, Internet and web application platforms, cloud computing platforms, as well as to expand strategic business cooperation and Microsoft’s partnership development ecosystem. In September 2016, he formally joined Face++ as president of the company, and was responsible for developing its strategic planning, sales, market expansion, and channel construction. Face ++ announced the completion of $460 million in C-round financing in October 2017.

Intelligent identification will revolutionize the industry

July 3rd 9:55 – 10:20

A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian jungle, and subsequently a storm ravages half of Europe. The things that really change the world, according to Chaos theory, are the tiny things. If robots can sense the world, how would that change our lives? AI has been growing rapidly in the past few years. In next few years, intelligent identification will be the next front line domain for AI. Intelligent identification will provide robots with eyes, so that they can see the world, and in turn change how we see the world.

As the leader in global robotics vision, Face++ by Megvii is taking deep learning and remote sensing to the next level, dedicated to providing industry solutions and AI products for corporate users. Through its recent projects, Megvii has truly commercialized facial recognition: from Alipay to Ping’an Credits, facial recognition has been entering every aspect of our lives. At TechCrunch Hangzhou, Fu Yingbo, CEO of Megvii, will speak about intelligent identification and share insights about the value it has created for the industry.

Chen Weixing

Founder, Kuaidi

Chen Weixing won the 19^th “China Youth May 4^th Medal” in 2015 and Forbes “China 30 Under 30 Entrepreneur.” Kuaidi has always adhered to the concept of “service technology innovation and building the future ecology,” focusing on blockchain investment, internet finance, big data, AI, IoT, and other fields. The company is focused on discovering, integrating, and investing in “super unicorn” projects. The company has invested in more than 80 outstanding domestic and overseas startups such as Che He Jia, 51 Credit New Wave Media, Card, Handan Space, Tiger Securities, and UTStarcom; at the same time, the company’s foothold in the field of blockchain distribution has placed it at No. One on crypto exchange platform Binance, world’s fifth largest exchange volume on Huobi, its virtual currency globally ranked top 20 on QUT, WeiChain, TRON and so on with nearly 100 blockchain related projects

Blockchain will turn dreams into reality

July 3rd, 11:40 – 12:05

As on-demand taxi-hailing services face questions of security, blockchain technology is attempting to provide an answer. Kuaidi founder Chen Weixing thinks that blockchain is a technology that creates credit rather than actual wealth. He wants to build a blockchain-based life services platform, starting with taxi-hailing. This new area of exploration will also be a direct challenge to the current status quo with Didi at the center of the ride-hailing industry. At TechCrunch Hangzhou, Weixing will be speaking about how blockchain will turn his taxi-hailing dream into reality.

Wang Yu

Co-founder, Tantan

Wang Yu was born in Beijing, and moved to Sweden with his parents at the age of seven. He holds a Dual Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Industrial Economics. He returned to China in 2007 and started his first venture project P1 in the fashion industry. He then co-founded one of China’s most popular social networking apps Tantan, and in February 2018 announced its acquisition of Momo for more than $600 million.

What will happen when humanity and technology collide

July 3rd 15:10 – 15:35

Social media apps have become widely popular across all ages and interests. “Swipe left or right, chat with only who you like” is the catch phrase for Wang Yu’s social and online dating app Tantan. Seen as a darkhorse, the app’s original intention was to facilitate online dating that was once popular among Chinese youth. With the hope of making Tantan a platform for today’s youth to meet new friends, Yu believes a good product must be able to solve the issues of humanity in the most efficient way possible. At TechCrunch Hangzhou, Wang Yu, co-founder of Tantan, will speak about the collision of humanity and technology, and the ensuing sparks it creates.