Yicai Announces 2018 Brilliant 10 Award Winners
Ning Jiayan
DATE:  May 18 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Yicai Announces 2018 Brilliant 10 Award Winners Yicai Announces 2018 Brilliant 10 Award Winners

(Yicai Global) May 18 -- With China growing into a global innovation center, the world's second-largest economy has gained considerable appeal for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs alike from all around the globe. The annual Yicai Brilliant 10 awards were announced at the Technology and Innovation Conference yesterday. Introduced last year, the Brilliant 10 program seeks to discover outstanding foreign entrepreneurs in China and give credit to their achievements.

Yicai Global has received a large number of applications from international entrepreneurs recommended by project founders, investors, venture capital firms, incubators and our own editors. Ten winners were selected based on a comprehensive assessment and selection framework covering nine criteria -- leadership, founder, team, innovation, tech, biz model, growth, scale and valuation. The award recipients are as follows:

Jack Zhang, founder and chief executive officer of Airwallex, a fintech startup specializing in international payment services. Zhang has nearly 10 years' professional experience in finance, trade and software engineering. Under his leadership, Airwallex has built a global business network employing cutting-edge technology, offering seamless terminal solutions to businesses across the world.

Bertrand Schmitt, founder of App Annie, an application market data and analysis company. Using the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, it has benefited some one million users in terms of enabling them to acquire a clearer understanding of the app market and opportunities for their respective businesses. Schmitt is a tech entrepreneur and has over 15 years' experience as a manager of mobile internet and analysis services.

Eric Schmidt, founder of EventBank. Founded in 2013, EventBank is a leading cloud-based engagement management technology company that provides event organizers, agencies, marketers, businesses, chambers of commerce, associations, and NGOs with solutions that combine the best event management, membership management, email marketing, CRM, and mobile. EventBank is currently present in 20+ countries around the world and clients range from multinational enterprises like Deloitte and Facebook, Chambers of Commerce and Associations such as AmCham Shanghai, through to community organizations like Lean In.

Dr. Chun-chen Liu, founder and chief executive of Kneron, a leading developer of artificial intelligence (AI) devices. The firm released a Neural Network Processor in 2016, based on which a range of products and solutions have been developed and applied in smart home, intelligent security and smartphone products. Dr. Liu previously held research and development and management positions in Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Research Center, MStar Semiconductor and Wireless Info. He participated in collaborative front-end technology development jointly sponsored by Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), Bell Labs and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Liu has taken out more than 30 international patents on AI, computer vision and image processing technologies and has published over 40 papers in some of the most prestigious international journals.

Ami Dror, founder of LeapLearner, a top education firm that offers virtual online courses teaching children to write programs using Scratch and JavaScript. Ami is a board member of several private companies and a co-founder of Global Creative & Innovation Enterprise Association, a non-governmental organization based in Hong Kong.

Hooman Kashef, founder and chief executive of Libre Wireless. Kashef is a senior mobile, wireless and broadband technology professional. Libre Wireless is a software and Cloud solution provider specializing in designing multi-protocol embedded voice Internet of Things (IoT) and audio streaming applications.

Josh Steimle, founder of MWI, a digital marketing company with offices across mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK and US. Staimle is also the founder of publishing, training and event planning firm Influencer Inc. Apart from his identity as a successful entrepreneur, Steimle is also a TEDx speaker and an author and has published articles on Fortune, The Times Weekly, Forbes, TechCrunch and Entrepreneur. His 'CMOs at Work' won the Success Magazine Best Business Book of the Year award in 2016.

Dr. Bechara Saab, co-founder of Mobio Interactive. As a former professor at Zurich Neuroscience Center, Saab developed Mobio to monitor users' respiratory and heart rates and recommends meditation courses based on analyses combining algorithms and self-assessment by users.

Richard Robinson, founder of nHack. Robinson is a 'continual' entrepreneur and has been involved in the establishment of several startups. He acted as a senior executive in three companies and led them from inception to listing on the capital market. Robinson is an active venture consultant and angel investor in Asia.

Fei, Will and Luke, founders of QLC, an online platform that helps people to find new jobs in far-flung places. Thus far, the company provided startup internships for more than 12,000 people, enabling them to learn about new businesses, as well as technical and professional skills.

Editor: William Clegg

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Keywords:   Yicai Brilliant 20,Startups,International Entrepreneur