The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Shenzhen

This chapter deals with Shenzhen’s hardware supply chain, and its fast speed prototyping and mass production. Shenzhen’s mature hardware supply chain enables young generational Chinese tech entrepreneurs to develop robotics and AI startups that are “Created and Made in China.” Economic and cultural globalization become part of those entrepreneurs’ DNA which mark those startups an epochal characteristic: Chinese companies born with global DNA. Visits to incubators and accelerators in Shenzhen reveal China’s entrepreneurial disadvantages compared to Silicon Valley, whereas, the comparison between Shenzhen’s ecosystem with the African ones indicates China’s advantages as a leading technological leader in the global south. This multilayer comparison adds to current global discussions on the importance of local startup ecosystem and the cultivation of entrepreneurial skills.