Six Italian startups set to conquer China at APEC SMETC

(AGI) Rome, July 8 - For the first time, six Italian startups have set out to conquer the international market and participate in the ninth edition of the most important fair for technological innovation in Asia. The APEC SMETC (Small Medium Enterprises Technology Conference) 2016 is due to open on July 14 in the Southern city of Shenzhen in China. Marco Mistretta, CEO of the Italian subsidiary of IngDan, a Hong Kong listed IoT (Internet of Things) company, will lead the mission. With over 8,000 partners comprising manufacturing companies, distributors and investors, IngDan will take the six 'national champions' into the very heart of the world's largest IoT market. Mr Mistretta is enjoying the results of the #RoadToSuccess programme he launched at Maker Faire Rome in October 2015. "We are taking to Shenzhen the Maker Faire's four winners and two finalists. It is the best example of what is known as 'Made in Italy 4.0'. Everybody talks about it, but it is increasingly difficult to nail it down," Mr Mistretta commented. APEC SMTEC 2016 could be a turning point for these young people who had the "courage and passion' to establish their own micro-multinational companies to pursue a dream of international success. "This is only the first of many other important initiatives designed to draw Italy and China closer, " the IngDan Italia CEO said. "IngDan is the only platform in the world which can make bright ideas become a reality and grow into succesfful products." The six people embarking on this journey have to gear up to win investors over when pitching their products during a dedicated session at the IngDan Experience Center, where they will approach a market of one billion people. A market where investments are different, risks are higher and opportunities are far more numerous, but they "must be seized". IngDan, which is mostly active in China, Europe, the U.S.A. and Israel, is placing itself as a gateway to Europe for Chinese people. Out of a total of 11,000 projects, 8,000 are by Chinese people who are present in their home market and in the U.S. "Every startup in the world targets China, since it is the largest market in the world," Mr Mistretta said. However, he is very focused on the internationalisation trend of these startups which "are interested in approaching new markets." "China has an ever growing interest, but we must make content available, because the European and Italian markets are small. They are significant in terms of conducting quality tests, but still lag behind in terms of the distribution of investments, which remain mostly focused on China," Mr Mistretta concluded. (AGI). .