Technology finance to empower enterprises to run out of acceleration

市民在体验高科技产品。

科技企业展示科技产品。

For the innovative “main force” technology-based SMEs, financing has always been a “difficult problem” that has plagued their growth and development. How to break through the "last mile" of scientific and technological achievements? In recent years, the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau has deepened the integration of science and technology and finance, and strengthened scientific and technological financial means such as “creating, investing, lending, and financing”, and jointly exerted efforts in credit supply, information sharing, and docking of multi-level capital markets. Enterprises such as “financing difficulties”, “funding expensive” and “funding slow” are difficult problems.

The reporter recently learned that in Guangzhou, 1,438 technology companies have received loans of over 20 billion yuan. With the power of the capital market, the financing and innovation capabilities of Guangzhou's technology companies continued to increase, and the number of high-tech enterprises and unicorn enterprises continued to expand. Science and technology finance is injecting new vitality into the old city of Guangzhou.

Over 20 billion yuan of technology credit to crack the credit difficulties of SMEs

The life cycle of a technology-based enterprise is divided into a front end (inoculation start-up period), a mid-end (growth and maturity period), and a back end (stability period). According to statistics, more than 90% of enterprises are difficult to smoothly transition from the front end to the middle end, which is called the "Death Valley" phenomenon.

“Technology financial services represented by science and technology credits assisted start-ups to obtain technology credit, so that enterprises can guarantee R&D investment and expand production scale, and help enterprises to cross the 'Death Valley'.” Zhang Yu, chairman of Guangzhou Chuangxian Science and Education Co., Ltd. .

In November 2015, Guangzhou City invested RMB 400 million in the first phase and established the largest credit risk compensation fund pool for SMEs in Guangzhou. As of October 2019, the number of cooperative banks in the fund pool has been expanded from 8 to 23, providing loans to more than 2,017 million yuan for 1,438 technology companies in the city. The actual loans are over 12.592 billion yuan, and the leverage is about 30 times.

Zhang Yu told reporters that the credit risk compensation pool of science and technology-based SMEs in Guangzhou provided a total of 20 million yuan of credit loans for Chuangxian Science and Education in 2015. “The loan helped the company to increase R&D investment, and also updated the production line and sufficient liquidity for production and operation. The company began to increase its turnover and profit by more than 30% every year from 2014.” On December 4, 2015, Chuangxian Science and Education Successfully listed the new three board. Nowadays, as a technology-based enterprise engaged in educational information services, Chuangxian Science and Education has become the only future unicorn enterprise in the field of “Internet education” in Guangzhou, and is at the leading level in the domestic industry.

While setting up a pool of technology credit risk compensation funds and inciting bank credit supply, Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau is also focusing on stratified classification to support enterprises and improving the “attractiveness” of technology companies to funds.

Through the implementation of tiered classification services, technology innovation enterprises have become stronger and bigger, and implemented high-tech enterprise tree standard improvement actions. As the backbone of the development of science and technology enterprises in Guangzhou, the number of national high-tech enterprises has grown rapidly for three consecutive years, achieving an annual average growth rate of 88.5% and a total increase of five times the “Guangzhou speed”. In 2018, the total number exceeded 11,000, ranking in national cities. third. Up to now, there are 9,228 warehousing enterprises in the state-owned SMEs in Guangzhou, ranking first in the country.

Nearly 500 Guangzhou enterprises listed new three boards

In order to open up the “Druid Two Pulses” of technology and finance, Guangzhou has also implemented a multi-level capital market action plan. Through listing (listing) subsidies, special counseling, field exchange docking, backup cultivation, etc., it actively promotes enterprises to connect with Shanghai and Shenzhen. Multi-level capital markets such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the New Third Board, and the Guangdong Equity Exchange Center will broaden corporate financing channels and increase the proportion of direct financing. From 2017 to 2018, Guangzhou has listed 883 companies on the listing (listing) subsidies of more than 200 million yuan, and established a pool of listed companies with 170 companies.

The data shows that the number of Guangzhou enterprises listed in the Guangzhou New Third Board and Guangdong Equity Exchange Center reached 498 and 5,813 respectively. Guangzhou has also promoted the listing of five technology companies including Victoria Harbour Environmental Protection Technology, Convergence Technology and Education Excellence on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. At present, there are 8 enterprises in the city that have applied for the board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and have been accepted. Among them, Fangbang and China Electric Research have been successfully listed.

Zhang Yu told reporters that after the listing of the New Third Board, Chuangxian Science and Education transitioned from debt financing to equity financing, and quickly expanded the scale of corporate assets. In just three years, it developed into a head enterprise in the industry. "With the support of the 512 million yuan equity financing fund raised from the New Third Board and the Guangzhou IAB industry development policy support, the revenue of Chuangxian Science and Education has grown from 200 million yuan to 1 billion yuan, and the profit scale has grown from more than 10 million yuan. More than 100 million yuan, the average annual growth rate is more than 50%."

Zhang Yu said that in the process of listing companies, the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and other government departments have done a lot of auxiliary work, such as setting up publicity and service platforms, guiding docking banks and equity investment institutions.

The reporter learned that this year, Guangzhou City has carried out four phases of "into the Shanghai Stock Exchange, embracing the science and technology board" field exchange docking activities. Under the guidance of the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and other government departments, more than 110 technology companies, including Science and Technology, Hexin Instruments, Jiete Bio, and Sanmeng Technology, went to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for on-the-spot exchange. In addition to leading enterprises to "go out", Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau also focused on more than 20 technology companies such as Frans, Alum equipment, Fantuo Technology, and Ligong Technology.

Guangzhou ran two double-created "national champions"

Recently, the 8th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is in full swing. As of October 2019, in the three national finals of the 8th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Singular Medical Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. from Guangzhou Division and Guangdong Kangyun Multidimensional Vision Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. It won the first prize in the finals of biomedicine and advanced manufacturing industry. This is the best result in the history of the Guangzhou Division.

The reporter learned that the number of enterprises registered in the Guangzhou competition area is close to 2,000, accounting for about 63% of the total number of registrations in Guangdong Province. In the past three years, nearly 10,000 Guangzhou technology companies have participated in the National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The number of participating companies in the Guangzhou Division accounted for more than 50% of the number of participating companies in the Guangdong Province for five consecutive years.

It is understood that starting from 2017, the Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau will combine the traditional science and technology projects with the China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition to test the water to “review the competition”. From the traditional way of selecting scientific and technological projects by academic experts to the national high-standard competitions, 80% of the judges of the competition consists of investment institutions and 20% of colleges and universities. The results of the competition directly determine the selection methods of the subsidized objects, giving full play to the enterprises. Innovative subject role and market-oriented role, stimulate creative vitality.

During the 7th China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau also took the opportunity of the large-scale innovation and entrepreneurship activities such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Dawan District Venture Capital 50-person exchange meeting, Guangzhou Venture Capital Week, and Xiaomanwa Technology Conference. The docking platform for enterprises and capital exchanges, closes the distance between enterprises and capital, and reduces the problem of “information asymmetry”.

Hundreds of science and technology observers visited one-on-one to understand the financing needs of enterprises. 18 BOC Science and Technology Enterprises' investment and loan linkages will attract more than 500 institutions to participate in on-site docking. In the week of Guangzhou Venture Capital alone, the competition companies received more than 5 billion yuan in investment and financing. Among them, Guangzhou Dabai Internet Technology Co., Ltd. successfully obtained the 7 million yuan equity investment of Guangzhou Suiyu Original Investment Management Co., Ltd. through China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (Guangzhou Division).

“For an entrepreneurial exploration enterprise like ours, this 7 million yuan investment has played a key role in strong endurance and driving up. A large part of the funds has been put into the next phase of the main product – network identity and security management platform. The development and polishing of the certification platform can be said to be directly related to the strategic direction of the business development of the enterprise.” Liu Lei, head of the general affairs office of Dabai Internet, told the reporter.

Indeed, the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements cannot be separated from the support of creating investment funds. To this end, Guangzhou has set up a scale of 5 billion yuan in Guangzhou City Science and Technology Achievements Industrialization Guidance Fund to guide angel investment, venture capital, cross-border venture capital into the field of science and technology innovation in Guangzhou, promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and foster strategic emerging industries. As of October 2019, the total size of the first batch of sub-funds has been completed to reach 7.5 billion yuan.

“Technology companies are born in science and technology, grow in finance, and become market.” Wang Guilin, director of the Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau, said. In the next step, the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and other government departments will further increase financial capital guidance, and strive to enlarge the guiding fund to more than 20 billion yuan by 2020, drive more than 100 billion yuan of social capital, implement the venture capital investment policy, and accelerate the accumulation of various types. Venture capital investment institutions have built Guangzhou into an internationally influential venture capital venture capital center. (Text / reporter Fang Qing Figure / reporter Yang Yaoxuan)