Over 800 people attended NGP Capital's World of Connections event in Shanghai on September 11th. The summit focused on 5G and developing markets, two of the hottest topics in the Chinese VC industry currently.

World of Connections has been held in the US for the past four years and has become a well-known event within the Silicon Valley VC industry. Each year, World of Connections focuses on the hot topics in the industry, bringing together business leaders to explore trends and opportunities. In 2019, for the very first time, the event landed in China, where it was organized jointly by NGP Capital and Hundun University.

Keynote speakers included Marcus Borchert, President of Nokia Greater China; Jeffrey Li, VP of Tencent Group and Managing Partner of Tencent Investment; James Shen, VP of Qualcomm and Managing Director of Qualcomm Ventures; Jun Zhang, Managing Partner of China Mobile Fund, and Xiaopeng Wang, Partner at JD Hehui Capital.

They were joined by more than 40 other speakers and panelists to share their views and insights with the group. The discussions centered around how the VC industry can capture opportunities in 5G and developing markets? How do we make disruptive innovations? What are the investment opportunities in smart mobility, logistics, digital health, education, and consumer-based innovations?

David Tang, Partner at NGP Capital, gave the opening remarks. He stated that “5G is the catalyst for the 4^th wave of digital innovation. It will undoubtedly accelerate the shaping of the connected world and change our ways of working and living. China’s developing markets represent 83% of its total population and 66% of its GDP and are emerging as strongly driven by innovative technology. Its dynamic and potential has shifted the focus of the whole industry. I believe China may return to the world arena as the leading innovator, as long as it can grasp the opportunities of 5G and developing markets combined. ”

Marcus Borchert, President of Nokia Greater China, presented a keynote on 5G market opportunities. He shared Nokia’s view on the most prominent clusters of 5G use cases, including connected vehicles, cloud robotics, and process automation, video surveillance and analytics, machine remote control, e-health, smart home appliances, immersive experience, and intelligent entertainment and sports. As the world’s leading 5G supplier, Nokia is active in building a global 5G ecosystem.

Other event highlights

Join World of Connections in San Francisco!

The next World of Connections conference will be held at the Golden Gate Club in San Francisco on November 19th, 2019. The conference will challenge entrepreneurs, VCs, tech-heads, and visionaries to reimagine the future of transportation, enterprise, and work.

The event is by invitation-only and co-hosted by NGP Capital, Maersk, Nokia, and Wipro. Join a select group of 300+ fellow Reimagineers and request an invitation on the event webpage.

‍