Shanghai has become an important habitat for high-growth enterprises represented by "unicorns", with the number of unicorn enterprises leading both domestically and globally. The total number of new unicorn enterprises emerging from gazelle enterprises has been ranked first in the country for three consecutive years. This is not only inseparable from the innovative development of enterprises, but also benefits from the efforts made by the city's relevant departments to serve enterprises. In addition to continuously optimizing the business environment and nurturing an innovative ecosystem, Shanghai has also led a precise service system for the past, present, and future of "unicorns" through a study, a report, and a list, gathering resources and attention from various departments and aspects to help enterprises overcome obstacles on the road forward and fully unleash their development potential.
List
Since the birth of the "unicorn" concept, emerging high-growth enterprises have become a weathervane for measuring regional innovation capabilities. An authoritative report shows that Shanghai currently has 156 key service unicorn enterprises, with a total valuation (market value) of about 1.35 trillion yuan by the end of last year. In terms of industry distribution, they are very much in line with Shanghai's plan to build a modern industrial system, are key forces in building a new growth engine, and are also integrators and pioneers of innovative elements.
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The above findings come from the "Shanghai Key Service Unicorn and Potential Enterprise Development Report". The "Report" was jointly launched by the Shanghai Small and Medium Enterprise Development Service Center and the Great Wall Strategy Consulting under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Small and Medium Enterprise Development Promotion Center, the Municipal Economic and Information Commission, and others. It has been released for two consecutive years. This is also the first unicorn list in China released by a government platform, anchored in service, and has attracted attention and recognition from all walks of life for its pioneering and leading nature.
According to the "Report", the 156 key service unicorn enterprises in Shanghai show a gradient pattern, with 22 listed unicorn enterprises, an average market value of 17.1 billion yuan; 56 unicorn enterprises, an average valuation of 12.4 billion yuan; and 78 unicorn potential enterprises, an average valuation of 3.6 billion yuan. More than half of the enterprises belong to the three leading industries, the proportion of enterprises on the four new tracks is as high as 73.7%, and the proportion of "unicorns" appearing in the five future industries also exceeds 20%. In addition, 80% of enterprises have R&D investment intensity exceeding 10%, 70% of enterprises have R&D personnel accounting for more than 30%, and each enterprise has an average of 66 patents, showing a strong innovative attribute.
Based on the data from Great Wall Strategy Consulting and other industry reports, Shanghai is recognized as the city with the strongest development momentum of unicorn enterprises in China at present. Over the past 8 years, the number of unicorn enterprises in the city has continued to grow rapidly, and the number of new unicorn enterprises has been ranked first in the country for three consecutive years, with a total of the second in the country and the fourth in the world.
This "Report" provides a rare perspective for observing the "unicorn" group. It not only gathers data but also pays attention to enterprises. Through this work, Shanghai is striving to answer an important question: how to further make a difference and let "unicorns" emerge and grow continuously.
Opportunity
For Shanghai's unicorn and gazelle enterprises, the Municipal Enterprise Service Center is a "shop assistant" that is always ready to respond and a "family member" that can be confided in. The original intention of compiling the above "Report" is also to highlight the key word "service". The director of the center, Wei Bingwu, told reporters that the innovation activities of the "unicorn" group are active, but there are still many shortcomings in qualifications and strength. In terms of financing, innovation, brand, talent, and other aspects, they are very eager for government departments to build platforms to help them obtain corresponding resources and opportunities.
In fact, Shanghai has always had outstanding performance in supporting similar scientific and innovative enterprises, especially as the birthplace of "specialized, refined, and new" enterprises. Over the past decade, the city has taken the lead in strengthening the supply of elements for this group in China, with positive results. However, the services for "specialized, refined, and new" enterprises cannot be precisely matched with the characteristics of unicorn enterprises. In Wei Bingwu's view, if the "giant" enterprises of "specialized, refined, and new" are regarded as being admitted to first-class universities, then unicorn enterprises are more like young and talented college students in the youth class.For instance, as various commercial banks have successively launched "specialized, refined, unique, and innovative" special loan products, they have significantly alleviated the financing difficulties of related enterprises. In comparison, although "unicorns" have high valuations, they are primarily based on intangible assets, making it difficult to provide sufficient collateral like "specialized, refined, unique, and innovative" enterprises when applying for loans. Therefore, the financing services aimed at them cannot simply copy the "specialized, refined, unique, and innovative" model.
Moreover, "unicorns" generally grow rapidly and sometimes emerge suddenly. For this reason, government departments also hope to think ahead and form a virtuous cycle of early identification, early service, and early explosion for potential enterprises and gazelle enterprises.
Thus, this "Report" becomes a starting point. In the process of communicating, researching, and "portraying" unicorn enterprises in the early stage, Shanghai first proposed distinctive classification assessment standards, breaking away from traditional definitions such as "established within 10 years," "valuation over 1 billion US dollars," and "unlisted," extending government services to both ends, and including listed unicorn enterprises and unicorn potential enterprises whose valuation has not yet met the standard, thereby highlighting the "full life cycle" concept and covering the attention and cultivation to high-growth enterprises of today and the future.
Services
The distinctive features of "unicorns" determine that more professional services should be provided for their growth. In addition to inclusive work such as business environment reform and innovation ecosystem construction, Shanghai also provides "small pot" customized service packages for the unicorn group, and listed enterprises naturally become the focus of key services for various departments.
In the past two years, while releasing the "Report," Shanghai has simultaneously launched a "service menu," from the 1.0 version menu covering policy interpretation, financing services, talent services, etc., to the completion of the 2.0 version upgrade this year, with the number of participating institutions increasing to 70 and the service content increasing to 220 items. At the same time, relying on the Shanghai Enterprise Service Cloud, the Municipal Enterprise Service Center, the Municipal Employment Promotion Center, the Municipal Talent Service Center, the Municipal Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Center, and other 20 units have formed a public service alliance to jointly launch exclusive services for unicorn enterprises and open green channels, allowing them to find the right person and solve problems in a timely manner when encountering issues.
It is worth mentioning that this year, the Municipal Enterprise Service Center has also signed strategic agreements with 12 banks including ICBC, ABC, CCB, BOC, BOCOM, CITIC, and Everbright, to jointly explore and create exclusive financial services for "unicorns," injecting momentum and confidence into the development of enterprises. Interestingly, two listed enterprises - Winå½» Technology in the autonomous driving industry and Orbi Medical in the biopharmaceutical industry - both received support from multiple banks in the first place after the release of the "Report," and subsequently completed tens of millions of yuan in financing.
Wei Bingwu said that the recent meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee pointed out the need to effectively support the development of gazelle enterprises and unicorn enterprises. This important deployment has clarified the direction for cultivating and developing new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality economic development, which has also inspired their service organizations. According to the central deployment, they will further focus on the direction of "effectiveness" and "effectiveness," link various resources according to the demands of enterprises, improve the service menu, enrich cooperation institutions, and improve service efficiency, striving to enhance the sense of gain for enterprises.