Article 19

    Shen Mengmin, 33, a former （前）excavator （挖掘机）salesman from Central China's Henan province, came to Beijing in 2013 hoping to create an app （应用软件）that links second-hand （旧）excavators with buyers online. He turned to Garage Cafe, or "Cheku Cafe" in Chinese, one of the most active incubators （孵化）for grassroot （草根）innovators （创新者）in the capital, located （位于）on the second floor of a hotel at Zhongguancun Innovation Street in Beijing.  

    "I stepped into Cheku without knowing anything about developing an app," he said. For 18 months he immersed （沉浸）himself there brainstorming （头脑风暴）with others. During tough （艰难）times he slept in public bath for 38 yuan ($6) a night to save money.  Later, he received a 1.5 million yuan investment, and found a programmer who made his dream product come true.

    The app has already been downloaded （下载）30,000 times on Android market and the programmer is now a core （核心）member of his team.  Shen is not alone.

    Thousands of individual （个体）innovators who have no resources （资源）to create a product or start their own business are achieving （实现）their goals and turning themselves into formidable （强大）innovators, thanks to bustling （熙熙攘攘）makerspaces like Cheku cafe.  

    "Cheku is bringing in ordinary people without formal education, technology or money, and empowering （鼓励）them to do something that they want to do. This is especially important in a country where the innovation is largely confined to （局限于）big companies, or elites（精英）," said Li Yan, a Cheku manager.  

    The cafe was founded（发起） in 2011 by Su Di, an investor who was having a hard time finding suitable start-ups （创业企业）to invest in. The cafe's name is drawn from US companies such as Amazon and Google who got their start in garages.  

    It is open to everyone, and after buying a single cup of coffee customers can spend a whole day there, with electrical outlets（接入口）, Wi-Fi connection, and basic office equipment（设备）, including printers and copiers, provided free. Humming （活跃）with activity, IT moguls（巨头）, successful entrepreneurs and investors are invited to share their ideas here.  

    Assistance （辅助）in company registration（注册）, bank loans, inexpensive （廉价）online services, such as cloud storage and patent information are also provided by Cheku managers. But most Cheku-ers say they love the place because it attracts a circle of like-minded （志同道合）people who can help pool （积聚）resources.  

    Makerspaces（创客空间）, or hackerplaces（黑客空间）, have been part of the global entrepreneurship scene （场景）for a while. They can be traced （追踪）to Berlin where, in 1995, a group of young programmers pooled ideas and began sharing a workshop space. Over the past four years, the movement has gained ground （落地）in China, too, with philanthropic （慈善）entrepreneurs or companies eyeing （关注）the startup market establishing spaces to help startups.

    There are at least 130 makerspaces in China clustered （群集）in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai but also in a wide swath of second tier（二线）, inland cities.  

    As one of the earliest and most successful makerspaces in Beijing, Cheku's business model has been copied in other cities. Nanjing-based 321 Chuangzhi Cafe, Beehive Cafe in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong are all of this type with a focus on forming an open community.

    "Cheku is where you find your partner," said co-founder Liu Hui. "It's like forming a band（乐队）. You have a singer, a drummer and need a guitarist. This is where you find one. "  

    Ren Xiaoqian, a designer, and programmer Huang Guangming, started working at Cheku when it was first established（创办）. It was there that they met their future investor, founder and president of Zendai Group, who also offered （提供）business advice. They finally came up with a new type of mobile Internet product called MomentCam, which allows users to easily create and share customized（定制化）, animated （卡通化）caricatures （漫画）of people.

    MomentCam might be one of the most successful products generated （产生）in Cheku. The app has been downloaded more than 200 million times globally and was crowned （赞誉）by Facebook as winner of its FB Start competition, a contest （比赛）that sought to identify（找到） the best apps in the world.

    A large number of people working in Cheku are technicians from traditional manufacturing （制造）industries （行业）who are transforming （改造）traditional wares （物品）into smart ones. Some target （瞄准）the niche （小众）market of smart home devices, with a competitive edge （优势）in projects too small to appeal to （吸引）big tech companies.  

    Hu Liangcai, an electromechanical professional for 12 years from East China's Jiangxi, came to Cheku last year with a plan to make a water-filled heater （热水器）that can be connected to Wi-Fi and operated （操作）by mobile phone via an app. Although knowing nothing about how to connect his heaters to the Internet, Hu met some computer engineers and tech fans who helped him select （挑选）multi-chip modules （多芯片模型）and create the app.  

    The cafe put Hu in touch with （接触）many free services, including the Smart Cloud, cloud computing support from JD, one of China's top brands and largest e-tailer（电子商务零售）. The service usually costs individual users 50,000 yuan a year.  

    Naturally, at the other end of the spectrum（景象）, Internet specialists are also grabbing （抓住）a slice of the start-up pie through more exclusive （排他性）incubators. Most of these more "elite" innovators are middle- or high-level employees at China's leading Internet firms who have quit （辞职）their jobs to try their luck in their own ventures（风险）.  

    Such innovators are seen as technology experts, and can attract a powerful team from within their networks. What they lack （缺乏）are capital and knowledge of starting a company, and this is where a different kind of makerspace comes in.

    Liu Junyan, or Jervis Liu, founder of Easemob, graduated last August, before receiving two rounds of investments amounting to （达到）nearly $7 million. The core members of his team, including himself, are four senior engineers who resigned （辞职）from Nokia, Polycom and Redhat, the world's leading provider （供应商）of open source solutions.  

    They designed （设计）a tool that adds instant messaging to apps and enables apps to have built-in （内置）customer service. It was hailed （称赞）by app developers who said that with it they can easily make apps social without programming a social networking function from scratch（从头开始）. A year after it was launched（上线）, 23,000 companies have used the tool in various kinds of apps, ranging from （包括）telecommunications, e-commerce, to financing.

    "According to our information, this is the first product of its type in the world," said Tang Huan, public relations chief （公共关系主管）of Easymob.  

    Zhang Mo, a programmer who once worked with Microsoft Research and IBM, graduated from 36Kr too. She designed dress-plus.com, a website that uses advanced image recognition （识别）and deep-learning techniques（技术）. Users can take a picture of a dress or upload （上传）an image, and the website finds similar dresses from a growing database （数据库）covering （覆盖）more than 150 online marketplace, including Amazon, Tmall, Farfetch and Heels.

    "Being professional, the elites are more likely to survive （存活）fierce competition, and build something that has huge impact（影响）," said Zheng.

    On March, 36Kr launched an online platform （平台）that connects startup companies and angel investors （天使投资人）across the country. So far, more than 300 qualified （资深）investors and 22,000 startup companies have subscribed （注册）and 50 investments totaling （达到）200 million yuan have been made.

    Now, 36kr is planning to raise （筹）capital （资）in new ways to fuel （支持）burgeoning （火热的）IT innovation. Its new online equity （股权）crowd funding （众筹）platform Next allows people with either 300,000 yuan annual （年）salary or one million yuan in financial deposits（储蓄）, to invest in start-up companies.

    "Some fast-expanding （快速增长）startups offer original shares（原始股）, which effectively ensure （确保）low risk and high return to buyers. The platform is where ideas meet capital, and crowd funding for business starters is the trend（趋势）, " said Liu Chengcheng, 36Kr CEO.