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December 3, 2014

 

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2014年12月3日

 

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Washington, D.C. and Beijing—1776 and Binggo Schools today announced they will join forces in Beijing on January 14 to host Challenge Cup 2015, a global competition that spans 16 cities in 11 countries to identify the most promising startups with the best ideas to solve the world’s biggest challenges. Microsoft Ventures, the tech powerhouse’s premier startup initiative, will also serve as a supporting partner in bringing the Challenge Cup to Beijing.

 

华盛顿哥和北京——1776和Binggo学校今天宣布他们将联手于1月14日在北京举办2015创业挑战杯大赛，这将是一个跨越11个国家的16个城市的全球性的竞赛，它将确定具有有望解决世界面临最大挑战的最佳创意的、最有前途的新兴创业企业。微软创投“Microsoft Ventures”，科技动力工厂的首要创业企业，也将作为一个支持合作伙伴将挑战杯带到北京。

 

The Beijing event underscores China’s rise as a leader in the global startup community and highlights the contributions of its innovators in tackling some of the world’s most difficult and intractable social challenges.

 

本次北京创业大赛将进一步强化中国作为全球创业领导者的上升趋势，凸显中国创新者在解决世界最大困难和棘手社会挑战方面的贡献。

 

“We are thrilled to be bringing the Challenge Cup back to Beijing, where a vibrant startup community is driving transformative change throughout the region,” said 1776 cofounder Evan Burfield. “This competition is about identifying China’s most auspicious, problem-solving startups and connecting them to the mentorship and resources they need to achieve their full potential.”

 

1776的共同创始人Evan Burfield说：“我们很高兴将挑战杯带到北京，在这里充满活力的创业企业正在驱动整个国家的根本性转变，这次大赛将找到中国最具前途的最能解决问题的新兴创业企业，并将他们与创业导师和资源结合起来，而这些将有助于他们发挥其全部的潜能。”

 

Challenge Cup participants compete for $650,000 in prizes in four categories—education, environment, health, and mobility and cities—as well as the chance to connect with mentors, corporate partners, policymakers, and potential investors.

 

大赛将在四大领域进行：教育、环境、健康和城市交通，挑战杯获胜者将获得65万美元的奖金，而且有机会与创业导师、公司合作伙伴、政策制定者以及潜在的投资者建立起联系。

 

“Beijing has already established itself as a leading hub for innovative startups who are tackling some of our most fundamental challenges—and they will benefit tremendously from participating in this competition,” said Jun Qin, Founder of Binggo Schools, one of the leading incubators in Beijing. “The Challenge Cup will be an invaluable opportunity for these startups to connect with influencers, meet with potential partners, and really take their ideas to the next level.”

 

北京最著名的孵化器之一Binggo学校的创始人秦君说：“北京是创新型创业公司的聚集中心，这些创新企业有望解决我们面临的某些根本性挑战，参加这样的创业大赛对他们非常有益。参加挑战杯大赛对这些创新企业而言是一个宝贵的机会，他们有希望与最有影响力的人们建立联系，可以会见潜在的合作伙伴，并可以将他们的创意真正提升到一个新的水平。”

 

In addition to Beijing, Challenge Cup 2015 takes place at 15 other regional sites, including Washington D.C., Chicago, Toronto, Sydney, New York City, Tel Aviv, Amman, Nairobi, Santiago, Mumbai, Austin, Boston, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco. Each city will produce four regional winners in each of the four categories, with 64 regional winners chosen to compete in 1776’s Challenge Festival in May – a weeklong event in Washington, D.C. that gives these startups an opportunity to pitch investors, connect with new mentors, meet with policymakers, and compete for prizes and funding.

 

除了北京以外，2015挑战杯将在其他15个地区同时举行，包括华盛顿、芝加哥、多伦多、悉尼、纽约、特拉维夫、安曼、内罗毕、圣地亚哥、孟买、奥斯丁、波士顿、柏林、都柏林和旧金山。每个城市都会在四大类领域中产生四个区域获胜者，64个区域获胜者将参加5月份的1776 Challenge Festival，这是在华盛顿举行的为期一周的活动，在这个活动中这些创业企业有机会吸引投资者，与新的创业导师联系，会见政策制定者，争夺奖金和投资。

 

“The Challenge Cup connects the region’s most promising, civically-engaged startups to the growing, global community of problem-solving entrepreneurs,” said France Du, Director of the Greater China Region for Microsoft Ventures, which will serve as a supporting partner for the Beijing competition. “Forging these connections will help startups grow and scale far more quickly than they could otherwise—and that’s huge for these young companies.”

 

北京创业大赛的支持合作伙伴，微软创投“Microsoft Ventures”的大中华区总监France Du 说：“挑战杯将每个区域的最有前途的民间创业企业与成长性的全球性的问题解决型企业家结合起来。建立这样的联系有助于创业企业成长和发育得更快一些，这个合作对于这些年轻的公司来说是巨大的。”

 

To power Challenge Cup 2015, and ensure the best startups and venture partners have a seat at the table, 1776 has forged partnerships with leading stakeholders, including New Enterprise Associates, the world’s largest venture capital firm, Revolution, the Case Foundation, Capital Factory, Rocketspace, Oasis 500, Betahaus, NDRC, 1871, ATP Innovations, INcubes, The Library, NYU Polytechnic Incubator, and others to be announced.

 

为了提高2015创业挑战杯的影响力，确保最佳的创业企业和创业伙伴在大赛中有一席之地，1776已经与创业领域里的很多重要企业组成了合作伙伴，包括新企业协会（New Enterprise Associates），它是世界上最大的风险投资公司，还包括Revolution, the Case Foundation, Capital Factory, Rocketspace, Oasis 500, Betahaus, NDRC, 1871, ATP Innovations, INcubes, The Library, NYU Polytechnic Incubator，以及其他一些尚未宣布的合作伙伴。

 

“These partnerships will further develop the crucial commercial relationship between Washington, D.C. and China,” said Ning Shao, Chief Executive of the DC China Center, a public-private partnership between D.C. and China, and a supporting partner for the Challenge Cup. “And not only that—they will lead to a greater exchange of ideas between American and Chinese entrepreneurs.”

 

挑战杯的一个支持合作伙伴，DC公司与中国建立的PPP合作企业，DC中国中心的首席执行官Ning Shao 说：“这种伙伴关系将会在华盛顿和中国之间建立起至关重要的商业合作关系。不仅如此，他们还将促进在美国和中国的企业家之间的大范围的创意交流。”

 

 

Candidates for the Challenge Cup competition are startups that are compelling, world changing, and highly scalable, and that aim to make tangible differences in people’s lives – not just build the hottest new app. Through Challenge Cup, entrepreneurs are not only connected to the investors and mentors they need to succeed, but corporations and policymakers in some of the world’s most entrenched industries and government entities are introduced to these innovators’ fresh ideas that have the potential to solve big, difficult challenges.

 

挑战杯大赛的候选人应该是那些引人注目的、能够引领世界变化的并且具有很强可扩展性的创业企业，他们的目标是实实在在地改变人们的生活，而不仅仅是创建最热门的APP软件。通过参加挑战杯大赛，创业者不仅能与他们取得成功必不可少的投资者和创业导师建立起联系，而且这些创业者的那些有可能解决世界艰巨挑战的新颖创意，会被介绍给世界上大多数传统成熟行业的企业和政策制定者，以及政府机构。

 

Last year’s inaugural Challenge Cup was enormously successful. Out of 5,000 applications, 480 startups competed in 16 cities in nine countries. Out of the 64 startups that competed at the Challenge Festival, eight startups were selected to receive funding from 1776 directly, several others received significant investment from other funds or partners, and 1776 set up more than 70 individual meetings between the startups, potential investors, corporate partners, and policymakers.

 

去年的首届挑战杯大赛大获成功。在5000个申请者当中，挑选出来自9个国家16个城市的480个创业企业参赛。在参加Challenge Festival的64个创业企业中决出的8个企业直接从1776获得了资助，其他许多企业从其他基金和合作伙伴手里获得大量投资，1776在创业企业与潜在投资人、公司合作伙伴和政策制定者之间举行了70多场见面会。

 

More about Challenge Cup: challengecup.1776dc.com

More about 1776: 1776dc.com

 

关于挑战杯的更多信息在: challengecup.1776dc.com

关于创业孵化器 1776的更多信息在: 1776dc.com