(Yicai) Aug. 8 -- High-quality incubators in Shanghai have built professional service platforms to provide technology startups with full-stack solutions, from experimental certifications to industrial resource allocation and even investment.

Shanghai has 12 top-flight incubators, which have built over 20 specialized service platforms, according to data from the city’s science and technology commission. Moreover, they have joined hands with financial institutions to also offer financial services. So far, they have set up or co-founded 10 incubation funds worth a combined CNY5 billion (USD696.1 million).

High-quality incubators are integrated service providers, Li Shihua, general manager at Sinan Semiconductor Incubator, told Yicai. They have solid capabilities to meet the needs of tech startups by better integrating upstream and downstream resources and can deliver superior services thanks to their business teams' understanding of the real needs of innovative and entrepreneurial firms, he explained.

For example, when a client needs to use mainstream electronic design automation software, if the the incubator’s EDA service center can provide time-share rentals, helping them save about half of the software usage costs, Li said.

Sinan Semiconductor has developed an incubation service model for semiconductor startups leveraging the industrial advantages of the Oriental Chip Port in the Lingang Special Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone that covers EDA design, wafer manufacturing, and packaging and testing certification, Li noted.

The partners of Sinan Semiconductor's EDA service center include international and domestic EDA creators and vendors and design service providers, Li told Yicai, adding that the center has helped startups shorten their chip design cycles by 30 percent to 50 percent.

Moreover, through partnerships with chip wafer manufacturers, Sinan Semiconductor's EDA service center has set up a wafer production fast track for startups' innovative products, he noted.

Sinan Semiconductor's revenue is mainly derived from facility rental income from its various professional service centers, professional service fees, and co-investment returns from some startup projects, Li said.

The incubator also provides clients with financial services. For example, it can introduce them to financial partners or directly offer them investment for high-potential projects and special support for disruptive technologies with high industrialization potential, Li explained.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione