Chinese startup for startups raises $2.4M angel round
China’s startup market has exploded over the past couple of years, buoyed by the increase in available funding. There’s a startup (or five) for basically everything you can imagine, including – of course – startups for other startups. The latest example is Joychuang, a startup services platform and app, which has just raised a seed round of RMB 15 million (US$2.4 million) from Pangu Venture Capital.
中国では財政支援の増加を受け、ここ数年でスタートアップ市場は急激に成長している。考え得る基本的な事業すべてに関するスタートアップがあり(5つくらいあったりもする)、当然この中にはスタートアップのためのスタートアップも含まれる。直近の例としては、シードラウンドでPangu Venture Capitalから1,500万人民元(240万米ドル)の資金を調達したばかりの起業支援プラットフォームおよびアプリを提供するJoychuangがある。
中国のスタートアップ市場はこの数年で大きな盛り上がりを見せている。利用可能なファンドの増加に後押しされているためだ。基本的に想像しうるすべてに対するスタートアップが5つほどあり、もちろん他の起業家に対しての新規事業のものも含まれる。最新の事例では、プラットフォームとアプリのサービスを提供するJoychuangがそれで、Pangu Venture Capitalからシードラウンドで1500万人民元(240万米ドル)を調達している。
Joychuang is a Software-as-a-Service company aimed directly at other startups and their founders. Through its mobile app and offline events (it does have two locations in startup hubs of Beijing and Shanghai) it aims to help founders raise money, recruit talent, find office space, host events, and much more. It advertises itself as a one-stop shop for startup services, and its offerings also include accounting services and help legally registering your company. It is (at least in theory) a bit like an online incubator.
Joychuang promises quite a lot; whether it can deliver is another story. Founder Wu Minghua has a history of doing startups focused on other startups that includes three other companies and dates back to 2003, so he certainly has experience on his side. But it’s clear the company is still in the very early stages. Its website looks pretty unprofessional, and the app download link on it doesn’t seem to work (it also inexplicably features a huge picture of a gorgeous seaside village in Greece on its “Contact Us” page).
The app itself isn’t much better. I get the impression the company intends to offer many services itself in the long run, but right now Joychuang’s app just forwards you to other providers. If you’re looking for help with accounting, for example, it has a list of several third-party companies that do startup accounting, but there’s no way to actually do anything beyond contact them from within the app. So much for one-stop services.
Still, Joychuang is young, and the US$2.4 million seed round it just raised should help quite a bit. Can this startup-for-startups achieve its promise as a true one-stop SaaS company, or is it doomed to become a listings site that points founders towards third-party providers?
ただ、Joychuangはまだ若い会社なので、シードラウンドで調達した240万米ドルも大いに役立てられることであろう。このスタートアップのためのスタートアップは総合的なSaas会社としての約束を果たすことができるのか、あるいは起業家を代車者へ誘導するだけのリスティングサイトになってしまうのか。