By TERRY BRODIE

Partnership between Invest Ottawa and state-owned ZDG aims to help local tech startups enter Chinese market

Ottawa tech startups interested in entering the Chinese market have $10-million and Canada’s first China-backed tech incubation centre to help their efforts.

Invest Ottawa, the city’s economic development agency, and the state-owned Zhongguancun Development Group (ZDG) have partnered to open the ZDG Ottawa International Incubation Centre, the second such centre to open in North America, following a similar one in Silicon Valley last year. ZDG, created by Beijing’s municipal government and with $11-billion in assets, has committed an initial $10-million in funding.

The centre will be housed in a 1,600-square-foot space at Invest Ottawa’s headquarters and will help startups with funding of China-based research and development, marketing and office expansion, a release said.

“We’re treating this as a very ambitious startup enterprise in its own right. ZDG has a plan to invest up to $1.5-billion [in technology companies] worldwide over the next five years, and we see today’s $10-million announcement as a starting point for Ottawa,” said Invest Ottawa chief executive officer Bruce Lazenby in a release.

Link to original article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-tools/small-business-briefing/10-million-china-backed-tech-incubator-launches-in-ottawa/article6201196/