The Emergence of Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship in China: Four Start-up Companies in Nanotechnology in Suzhou

Kapitel i bok, 2015

An aspect of innovation spaces in China is the development of entrepreneurship in advanced sectors, addressed here. The main focus is upon how four ventures within nanotechnology can develop, through analysing interactions between key variables within the model of knowledge intensive entrepreneurship. Nano represents a series of emerging technologies, and ones that are often seen to be ones that are interdisciplinary and involve a distributed form of knowledge amongst many different actors such as universities, existing large firms, and entrepreneurial firms. The rapid development of science-based industries of nanotechnology is one based on ample technological and market opportunities, and these opportunities are being created between the entrepreneur (person), the entrepreneurial venture (organization) and the national innovation system. Analytical focus is put on the role of regional and institutional support such as the government loans and the science park as well as the specific characteristics of the founders, including international networks. The chapter focuses upon four in-depth case study of Chinese firms, based in Suzhou Industrial Park. The firms are Beaver Nano-Technologies Co., Ltd; Poynova Materials Suzhou Ltd; Hanano; and Nano-Micro Technology Company.