Indiegogo is helping Chinese startups come to the United States

Just as American companies tend to have a hard time breaking into the Chinese market, so to do Chinese companies trying to break into the American market. This is especially true for startups, which is a damn shame considering all of the interesting startups that China has given birth to in recent years. Indiegogo couldn’t agree more, which is why the crowd-funding website has launched a new pilot program that it hopes will be able to help Chinese startups overcome the challenges they face when trying to launch in the United States. 

Indiegogo is set to reveal a program to help Chinese hardware startups launch in the US. The pilot program – the first of its kind for the crowdfunding site – will see 10 to 15 Chinese teams selected, explains Indiegogo’s Ben Bateman to Tech in Asia. “The goal of this program is to meet the unique challenges of Chinese companies launching into the US market,” says Joanna Wei, Indiegogo’s “China evangelist” in Beijing. The final list of Chinese gadget startups accepted into the program will likely be revealed during the course of CES 2016, which is on January 6 to 9 in Las Vegas. The first batch will be teams preparing to launch during the first three months of the new year. The second phase will focus on products coming out during Q2. “The pilot will focus on a small number of companies to begin with, but we hope to expand the program later in 2016,” Joanna explains. Indiegogo will be aiding the young teams with “increased level of support to help coordinate these launches,” she adds, including things like campaign design, marketing tips, and ad buying. While some of the assistance comes for free, other aspects will require a fee and be performed either by Indiegogo itself or third-party firms that the site connects the startups to. Indiegogo hasn’t yet finalized what will be free or paid within the China pilot program, Ben says.