From January 4 – 18, 2024, the ShenTech Bootcamp, a collaboration with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), hosted a group of 62 startup founders, graduate students and university faculties from Saudi Arabia. The program aimed to equip participants with business strategies and technical skills to transform ideas into market-ready products and services addressing global challenges.
The ShenTech Bootcamp, initiated through the KAUST Innovation Hub in Shenzhen and InnoX Academy, offers support in developing technical solutions, upstream, downstream and supply chain partners, and human capability in the Greater Bay Area. Participants received mentorship from InnoX mentors, industrial experts and company founders, and emerged from the bootcamp with practical skills for turning novel ideas into tangible products and successful ventures with real-world impact.
Professor Zexiang Li, Founding Dean of InnoX, said during the Demo Day ceremony, “The world is increasingly shaped by and dependent upon our technological inventions, and innovators who can navigate this complex terrain in the 21st century and beyond are needed. My role as founder, engineer and educator is to prepare these new leaders to be critical thinkers and resilient entrepreneurs.”
“The time is right to strengthen alliances between KAUST and Shenzhen tech innovators,” said Dr. Jinchao Xu, director of KAUST Innovation Hub in Shenzhen, and professor of applied mathematics and computational sciences at KAUST. “As a globally leading research institution invested in technology development and commercialization, KAUST is uniquely positioned to make an impact on the global stage, and Shenzhen is the ideal city to connect Saudi Arabia to China and the Greater Bay Area.”
