Video Recap of Munich Opening on May 18th 2017

InTeahouse, Inc. officially launches first European office in Munich on May 18 2017! 

InTeahouse’s mission is to connect international investors with local innovators, and gathered the leaders of Munich’s innovation ecosystem -from startups to Siemens and IBM Watson, and fintech to Bank of China- at Silicon Schwabing to launch InTeahouse’s German presence in Munich.

The launch party was kicked off with China-Germany Capital & Technology investment and networking event. Over 200 attendees (standing room only) enjoyed the office opening with a beautiful tea ceremony, warm welcomes by the Chinese Consul General in Munich, the City of Munich, and the Deputy Director General of the Guangdong Province Commerce mission to Germany, and stunning views from the 19th floor of Design Offices, the leading innovation working space in Munich.

Here’s are some highlights of the event:

InTeahouse Hosts First CEO Roundtable

Entrepreneurship is no easy feat. On top of that, doing business with China can be another challenge entirely. As Ted Acworth, founder & CEO of Artaic, discussed, building a business relationship with China is a challenge with immense rewards.

Ted Acworth, founder of Artaic, kicked off InTeahouse’s first CEO Roundtable with Q&A session moderated by InTeahouse’s VP of Business Development, Chris Ilsley. Ted shared his first adventures exploring the rural fishing village of Shenzhen in 1991, which at the time, was in the process of building its first highway. Since then, the city has undergone immense social and economic growth alongside China: “within a lifetime, it has transformed into a highly developed country.” As he observed China’s growing interest in robotics, Ted sought to expand his robotic mosaic customization company, Artaic, to China. Due to its uniquely structured traditions, legal, economic and regulatory environment, Ted encountered some obstacles trying to navigate the Chinese market. “China is radically different from American culture.” Reflecting on his experiences with China, Ted expressed the importance of treading carefully and performing due diligence when exploring the Chinese business environment.

“In doing business with China, it is less about the paper and more about the relationship.”

Ted emphasized that having a partner who is able to facilitate these strong relationships with the Chinese and has a deep understanding of the Chinese market is essential for successfully executing business in China. Acworth found this partner in InTeahouse, finding value in working with a company run by a China native.

Participating in InTeahouse’s U.S.-China Robotics Summit back in October 2016, Ted was able to foster relationships with many Chinese investors and strategic partners. InTeahouse helped Artaic continue the dialogue with these investors, and Ted eventually received a $2 million co-investment from “the IKEA of China,” Lesso, and InTeahouse. Ted added that he “wouldn’t have gotten this round that just closed without InTeahouse.” He characterizes business with China as not only a “ bold undertaking” but also an “exciting, challenging and mind-opening experience.”

Ted continues to see China as a valuable opportunity for investment and a market for the future as it remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Acworth says he “can’t imagine China straying from wanting U.S. or Western exports,” noting that the maturing Chinese consumer class seeks increasingly higher quality, genuine products rather than cheap, knockoff goods.

“We consume so much from China, let’s get them to consume as well.”

– Register for the next event in our CEO Roundtable Series will be August 16th featuring Humon founder and CEO, Alessandro Babini.

The Launch of InTeahouse's InSeven Program

 InTeahouse Boston’s InSeven Program Launch kicked off with InTeahouse’s Managing Director, José Estabil, discussing the successful completion of InTeahouse’s first InSeven. With over thirty applications, InTeahouse was able to narrow down the applicants to three start-ups: Pecos Windpower, Qipo and Somax Systems.

 To celebrate this momentous occasion, MIT Professor and successful entreprenuer, Charles L. Cooney, gave a speech on what it takes to build a billion dollar company.  Sharing his experience working with Genzyme, Biocon and Genetech, each billion dollar companies in there own right, Cooney shared his insights on the path to building a successful company.  Cooney compared the path to mountain climbing, underlining the fact that getting to the summit (or building a product), was only part of the journey to attaining the goal.

 Following Professor Cooney’s speech, each of InTeahouse’s selected InSeven teams pitched their companies to the attendees which included bankers, government officials and fellow entrepreneurs.  

 The event also included Assistant Secretary of Business Development & International Trade to the Governor of Massachusetts, Nam Phan, who presented InTeahouse founder, Xin Liu, with a citation from Governor Charlie Baker.

In addition to the citation, InTeahouse’s InSeven Program Launch featured an exciting announcement of InTeahouse’s new partnership with iSoftStone.  Through this partnership, InTeahouse InFriends members entering China will have access to Leye Space, iSoftStone’s premium co-working spaces, as well as Leye Space services including SaaS application, legal consulting, enterprise cloud and business services.  

The presentation ended with a discussion about China’s growing appetite for U.S. Tech, emphasizing that the time to access China is now.  InTeahouse has helped to connect U.S. companies to China through InTeahouse’s InSummits in which selected companies were brought to China to meet investors, manufacturers and other strategic partners. The night concluded with drinks and network for all attendees.