Fosun and Fidelidade selected the three winning startups of Protechting

2016-04-15

(April 13, 2016, Lisbon, Portugal) China's leading investment group Fosun Group ('Fosun') together with its portfolio company Fidelidade announced the three winning startups of its accelerator program, Protechting, which aimed to support innovative projects in the areas of protection, prevention, services, healthcare and savings.

Mr. Liang Xinjun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Fosun Group, Mr. Jorge Magalhães Correia, CEO of Fidelidade, Ms. Isabel Vaz, CEO of Luz Saúde and Mr. Brad Bao, Managing Partner of Fosun Kinzon Capital awarded the three winning startups with a roadshow to Shanghai and a €10.000 cash prize for the first classified. The ceremony was witnessed by the Portuguese Secretary of State of Industry, João Vasconcelos, representatives of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Portugal, Xu Weili and Lai Qisheng, the President of the Portuguese Association of Insurers, Mr. Pedro Seixas Vales, Mr. Pedro Ortigão Correia from the Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency, the President of the Portuguese/Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Sérgio Martins Alves and the board members of Fidelidade, Mr. José Quintero, Mr. Rogério Campos Henriques, Mr. William Mak and Mr. António Noronha, among other institutional guests.
Under the moto 'innovation is about people', Protechting received 140 applications from which 15 startups representing 8 different countries reached the final phase.

Mr. Liang Xinjun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Fosun Group, said 'Fosun itself is actually an entrepreneurial company. Twenty-three years ago, Fosun was a small business set up with US$4,000 in Shanghai by four Fudan graduates, who were from grass-roots families. Now, Fosun's total assets have reached US$65 billion. With a hope to discover and encourage more young people to start their own businesses, Fosun has been focusing on the Internet and VC investment since 2013. We established the Kinzon Capital to help support the growth of startups and foster more unicorns. Up to now, Kinzon Capital has invested in 35 projects, with a total investment amount of US$200 million.'

For Fosun Protechting project represents a clear beat in the Portuguese society and in its capacity of development and innovation. Portugal is an important country for the growth strategy of the company that reinforces its long-term commitment with the country.

This project also represents a step forward in the support Fidelidade has been giving to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Portugal but it is also a pertinent way to bring innovation into Fidelidade. According to the CEO of Fidelidade, Jorge Magalhães Correia, 'Fidelidade is an innovative company but with this program we have entered a new direction, linked to the new economy, the startups and acceleration programs. We believe that this is a way to support the national economy by boosting innovative companies but it is also a way of preparing our company for the challenges that await for us'.

Mr. Liang Xinjun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Fosun Group, added 'From this year, Fosun has been vigorously promoting the 'unicorn' strategy. In the future, in such industries as wealth, health, happiness and innovative manufacturing, by promoting active combination of traditional industries with mobile Internet and artificial intelligence, and by gathering idle and low-cost resources through mature products or models, we can create a group of highly competitive unicorn businesses. We hope that Protechting program would become the cradle of unicorns, so that more young people will be given a platform to achieve something in various emerging fields'.

Fosun has been persistently taking roots in China and investing in China's growth fundamentals. It has been actively implementing its investment model of 'Combining China's Growth Momentum with Global Resources'. Fosun is dedicated to making a major stride towards becoming a world-class investment group underpinned by the twin drivers of 'insurance-oriented integrated financial capability' and 'global industrial integration capability taking roots in China'. Today, Fosun's businesses include two major segments, integrated finance (wealth) and industrial operations.

Fosun International Limited issued this content on 15 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 16 April 2016 07:01:25 UTC

Original Document: http://www.fosun.com/en/news/detail.html?id=4763