Empowering innovation: Unique model of GUi

GUi's difference: Beyond incubation

As Yang founded Sci Visual, GUi was also launched with the Sci-Tech Innovation Station USTC Station at the Shushan Area, located just across the street from the East Campus of USTC, providing startups with office space, as well as financial, legal, and operational guidance.

Yang recalls that when they first approached GUi, they were a group of inexperienced entrepreneurs, but the team at GUi welcomed them with open arms. Not only did GUi's Shushan Area provide ready-to-use office space, but they waived the rent for the first year. 

GUi also supported Sci Visual with substantial financial backing. A year after their location, GUi provided a 100,000-yuan ($14,265) startup grant and a streamlined process for a 2-million-yuan, interest-free loan.

What sets GUi apart from other incubators is its dedicated, long-term approach to supporting innovation and fostering growth for tech startups.

1. Facilitating role transition from scientist to entrepreneur

Research talents at universities possess the courage and drive to start their own ventures. However, a stark reality is that academia and the business world operate under different logic.

Success in research does not automatically translate to success in the marketplace. Founders of a startup must quickly develop a market-oriented mindset and complete the transition from student or scientist to entrepreneur.

Yang speaks to this challenge from personal experience: "The gap between campus and society, the market, is enormous. On campus, when professors work on research projects, they apply for a project, secure funding, and complete it on time. But in the market, you need to know how to establish a company, build a team, design equity structures, win orders, and understand your core values. There's a lot to learn."

From various initiatives, GUi provides hands-on, step-by-step support to help founders navigate this critical transition. For instance, GUi runs specialized programs like the entrepreneurship training and innovation camps that offer end-to-end support — from venture mentoring and investor matchmaking to pre-IPO guidance — equipping researchers with the business acumen to lead companies.

As a regular attendee of the innovation camp, Yang not only gained knowledge about equity financing but also learned communication skills. "I might be one of the few who attended two sessions of the innovation camp in one year, totaling about half a month. I even took classes twice from the same instructor. The takeaways were immense," Yang recalled.

2. Matching 'hammers' with 'nails'

A common saying among researcher-entrepreneurs is "looking for a nail to hit with your hammer". This metaphor captures the challenge where researchers often hold the "hammer" of advanced technology but struggle to find the right "nail" of market application.

At GUi, this problem finds a systematic solution. As Yang explains, GUi has established both a screening mechanism and a comprehensive implementation framework for technology transfer.

For instance, GUi conducts early-stage evaluations to assess both a technology's commercialization potential and a scientist's entrepreneurial aptitude. This helps ensure that scientists most inclined toward academia can stay focused on their research, rather than being steered into startups merely to meet performance metrics.

When a scientist's technology shows clear market potential, GUi then provides one-on-one entrepreneurial coaching. Supported by a series of industry-academia-research policies, it helps transform technological breakthroughs into market-ready products while ensuring fair profit distribution.

In China, research institutes and universities are the primary sources of original innovation, with most breakthroughs driven by their achievements. GUi's dual mechanism of screening and implementation bridges the gap between the innovation chain and the industrial chain, effectively translating original research into industrial applications. Ultimately, this strengthens China's core competitiveness.

An aerial view of Zhong'an Chuanggu, GUi's core area. [Photo/WeChat account: zhenghedao]