The ‘Win Grants for Your Pioneering Projects and Launch in the Yangtze Delta’ challenge invites entrepreneurs, researchers, startups, and enterprises to submit transformative innovations across five fields:

• New materials – including but not limited to innovations in materials science, composites, and advanced functional materials
• Advanced manufacturing and equipment – including but not limited to smart manufacturing, robotics, and automation technologies
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT) – included but not limited to next-generation computing, Mobile Edge Computing, IoT, brain–computer interfaces, various IC (integrated circuit) and Sensor applications
• Medicine and medical equipment – including but not limited to new medical devices, biotechnology innovations, and digital health solutions
• Clean energy and sustainability – including but not limited to renewable energy, energy storage, and carbon-neutral technologies

Successful participants can access an initial working fund of up to $40,000 to develop their ideas, with the potential for further financial and strategic support from NICE of up to $4 million to launch, scale, and commercialise their solutions. Projects must have the ability to set up a business entity or already have a presence in the Yangtze Delta region of China (Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Anhui) in order to receive funding.

“This partnership with NICE is a huge opportunity for innovators to not only secure funding and support, but to be embedded in one of China’s most advanced innovation ecosystems,” said Schonning Eysturoy, Senior Director Innovation Ecosystems of Wazoku. “It’s a significant step forward, serving as a bridge between NICE’s industrial partners and our global community of solvers, startups, academia, and ecosystem partners. Together, we aim to increase the success rate of solving industry challenges via collaboration between NICE’s ecosystem of researchers and Wazoku’s global crowd of more than 700,000 innovators. This collaboration will give our solvers greater access to the Chinese market, while also opening up NICE’s ecosystem to our global network of partners.”

This is the first major collaboration between Wazoku and NICE, which was jointly built by Shanghai municipality and Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui provinces supporting scientific and technological advancement. NICE has created a world-class innovation ecosystem connecting business, academia, and government, and is committed to international collaboration as a means of driving future economic growth.

A recent co-hosted event on 1 April 2025 in Shanghai – Innovation Without Borders: NICE x Wazoku x AI – showcased the power of this cross-border collaboration. The event brought together researchers and industry partners to explore how a global open innovation ecosystem can help advance and apply research to both local and global industry challenges.

“It is my great pleasure to invite Wazoku expert Schønning Eysturoy to share his insight and experience in open innovation. We gathered to explore new pathways for international cooperation and smarter enterprise services,” said Dr. Shi Gonggi, VP of National Innovation Center par Excellence at the opening of the Innovation Without Borders event. “NICE has been at the forefront of promoting technological innovation and the transformation of scientific achievements in the Yangtze River Delta region. We aim to provide a robust platform for the integration of industry, academia, and government, facilitating the development of key technologies and the growth of innovative small and medium-sized enterprises.”

The Wazoku Crowd connects organisations with a global network of more than 700,000 Solvers – including scientists, entrepreneurs, researchers, and inventors – to help find solutions to complex problems. Previous challenges have delivered breakthroughs for the likes of NASA, Enel, and AstraZeneca.

The ‘Win Grants for Your Pioneering Projects’ challenge closes on 19 May 2025 and requires participants to submit a proposal outlining their technology or project, with a clear route to implementation and impact. Awarded entries retain IP ownership and may be invited to negotiate future development partnerships with NICE and other local stakeholders.

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