Leeds City Region businesses connected with Chinese crowdfunding companies

28 July 2020

We have seen a dramatic increase in the interest, and adoption of crowdfunding globally. Leeds City Region is the leading financial centre outside of London and has been quick to capitalise on new trends such as crowdfunding, big data and FinTech, so when Guiyang City wanted to extend their visit outside of London, Leeds was the obvious destination.

Guiyang City, located in South West China, have the first crowdfunding Platform in China granted by Central government and they will be in the UK next week to introduce their ‘Crowdfunding Exchange’ as well as seeking investment opportunities up to £1 million in hi-tech companies. The Guiyang delegation is led by Vice Mayor Wang and includes both government and businesses who are looking for investment opportunities.

The trade exchange brought a group of investors from Guiyang in Guizhou Province to Yorkshire to search for technology companies with projects in need of investment of up to £1m.

The delegation comprised about 25 senior officials with interests in crowdfunding and big data who came to learn more about the expertise that the Leeds City Region can offer. They were joined by delegates from across the region with interests in this sector.

The visit of the Guiyang delegation, led by Vice Mayor Wang, included a meeting with Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Judith Chapman, as well as introductions to key representatives from DIT and Leeds City Region.

The investors discussed the funding opportunity and crowdfunding platform and a number of UK companies presented their investment opportunities at the roadshow.

Steve Crow, Business Development Director for Clarion, commented: “The Chinese delegation recognised that Leeds is second only to London in terms of its strength in financial and professional services with an increasing focus on FinTech.

“From a big data perspective, there are massive regional strengths in health informatics and, increasingly, the importance of big data in the retail, financial and built environment sectors is also being recognised.

“Having been involved in crowd funding for the last four years or so, both in terms of supporting our clients with funding and working more strategically at a government level looking at new crowd funding models, we were keen to be involved in the Chinese investors roadshow. It was another great opportunity to bring together companies looking for funding with those offering alternative sources of finance.”