socialmedian: Q & A with Kai-Fu Lee on building Innovation Works, Google China

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Q & A with Kai-Fu Lee on building Innovation Works, Google China

Source: VentureBeat

Sep 07, 2009

Summary

Kai-Fu Lee, who led Google’s China operations until last week, is launching a new early-stage investment fund and startup incubator based in Beijing called Innovation Works.

Lee says Innovation Works’ approach will be highly-tailored for the Chinese market. It will have more hands-on mentoring, build projects in-house and then spin them out for larger rounds of funding later. The idea is to find young, hungry engineers in Beijing’s top universities, hire them, give them the room to experiment with ideas and then help them grow their projects later.

He says the Chinese market needs a more intensive approach in funding entrepreneurs because the education system is poor and company founders lack experience. There also isn’t as strong a financial ecosystem for supporting very young technology ideas as well.

He’s financing Innovation Works with $115 million from investors including Steve Chen, who co-founded YouTube, Foxconn Technology Group, Legend Group and New Oriental Education & Technology Group. WI Harper Group is the lead venture capital investor. (Look below

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