The semi-finals of the 2026 Global Tech Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition kicked off on Sept 21 at the Grand Union of Innovation (GUi), an innovation hub in Hefei, the capital city of East China's Anhui province.
The three-day competition featured 120 projects that advanced from the preliminary round, selected from 1,202 valid entries and 938 initial reviews.
Covering 19 cutting-edge fields such as next-generation information technology, biomedicine, low-altitude economy, quantum technology and embodied intelligence, the competition aligned with Hefei's strategy in building a modern industrial system.
It aimed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, facilitate precise alignment between innovation resources and industrial needs, and encourage high-quality projects to take root in Hefei.
The judging panel comprised experts from State-owned platforms, renowned investment institutions, technology managers and industry chain participants. This diverse perspective ensured a multi-dimensional evaluation of each project's potential for implementation, rather than merely ranking them by technological merit.
The term "Ke Piao", introduced by Hefei in 2024, refers to tech talent, including academic researchers, returning overseas talent and serial entrepreneurs.
The competition served as a platform to connect these talents with Hefei's industrial needs, capital ecosystem and application scenarios, transforming their search for opportunities into a decision to stay in Hefei for long-term development.
Organized by GUiTEK, a platform that operates the GUi, and other institutions, the event offered a prize pool of 4.2 million yuan ($626,000), with additional incentives totaling more than 100 million yuan. The project winners must register and operate their businesses on the GUI within nine months to claim their prizes.
Beyond the competition, Hefei addresses common challenges faced by innovation teams, such as high costs and resource constraints, through an initiative called "Tech Talents Community", creating a conducive environment for sci-tech professionals from around the world to "go with the dream" of entrepreneurship in the city. This initiative offers a tiered entrepreneurial support system, including a "15-day free experience and six-month incubation", alongside comprehensive services from initial exploration to permanent settlement.
This year's competition featured comprehensive support from technology managers, who assisted each team throughout the whole process, from project selection to implementation.
A notable success story is that of Wang Ningning's team, which researches high-temperature superconducting materials. The team decided to establish a presence in Hefei after a 15-day experience at the Tech Talents Community. The decision was made due to Hefei's advantages in superconducting material applications and efficient service systems.
To date, GUi has attracted over 7,000 innovation and entrepreneurship talents and more than 2,500 tech enterprises.
By providing comprehensive support and fostering a competitive industrial cluster, GUi is positioning itself as a hub for advanced manufacturing and high-quality industrial development in Anhui.
A poster for the 2026 Global Tech Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.
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