TIE² International Lab – Advance Your Tech Project in China

China's top tech university

Collaboration with entrepreneurs from China’s top tech university

Exploration of Chinese market

Unique chance of exploring the Chinese market and startup culture

Free of Charge

Covered flight and lodging costs for the stay in China (visa excluded)

Target Group

Two-person teams of students and/or early-stage founders

Participation Requirements

UnternehmerTUM and X-Lab in China each select up to 10 teams à 2 people for a collaboration in an intercultural and mixed setting. These are the criteria:

  • You and your teammate are committed during both exchange periods (see DATES).
  • You have a strong technical background
  • Your team wants to experience the Chinese market and start-up culture
  • Together with your teammate you hold >50% of the shares in your project or start-up
  • Your team may have been incorporated and already received funding or grants (no precondition) or is at least in an early concept phase (proof-of-concept done, prototype ready, hypotheses tested)

What’s in it for you?

WORK IN AN INTERCULTURAL AND MIXED SETTING You will connect with entrepreneurially minded students, scientists, founders and VCs from China and Germany who will help you to develop your skills on a personal, social and functional level. BOOST INTERNATIONALIZATION You will learn to understand different customer needs in different markets. This will open you the doors to become internationally successful with your project in times of globalization and digitalization. BUILD A STRONG INTERNATIONAL NETWORK Due to the close collaboration with the Chinese teams and the one week stay in Beijing, you will lay the foundation for future German-Chinese partnerships and network relations.

Deliverables during the program

The following submissions will be mandatory for a successful participation:
  • Revision of your summary
  • Pitches in Beijing and Munich
  • Revised 2-minute video
  • Final presentation of progress
  • Learnings, results, pivots

Contact Persons

Dr. Dominik Böhler

Manager Tech Talents Entrepreneurship Education
boehler@unternehmertum.de
+49 89-18 94 69-1512

Success Story

SHOPEUR

Directly engaging and interacting with premium clients in China, this is the service that Shopeur offers to European luxury brands. The team develops a multi-brand business platform, which links Chinese travelers visiting Europe to labels which offer European luxury goods. By uploading pictures or product codes, Chinese travelers can pre-order a list of products and locate the stores once they arrive at a certain destination in Europe. Users can receive individual suggestions for unavailable products, or get product suggestions through the APP’s exclusive inspire feed. During the international lab TIE² the team was able to conduct over 40 face-to-face interviews with potential customers, pitched their idea on multiple occasions and received valuable feedback from Chinese investors and serial entrepreneurs.

“TIE² truly was one of the accelerators for Shopeur! The exchange program enabled us to validate Shopeur and to build the foundation of our growing business network in China. We are still receiving valuable support from x-Lab even months after our trip to China!”

SHOPEUR Team

Collaborative Partners