Datang's 'cloud' attracts startups

Zhang Xuefeng, a former Nokia China employee, started his entrepreneurial journey a year ago with the help of a State-owned enterprise.

The 35-year-old product manager joined a 70-strong team to develop the Hulu smartphone brand, which is part-owned by Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group, an SOE.

What attracted Zhang and the rest of the team were the incubator facilities offered by Datang.

"The smartphone we developed used technology owned by the group that significantly reduces the radiation it emits," he said. "That feature particularly appeals to pregnant women."

Like tens of thousands of incubators that have sprung up across China, Datang offers office space and other startup-related services.

But what makes it different from the rest is the group's technological platform, creative philosophy and free services.

Known within the company as "369 cloud platform", it enables developers to generate a preliminary mobile app in just 20 seconds. By doing this, startup teams can monitor real-time traffic, user makeup and other online services free of charge.

"It's like playing lego. We offer lego and they provide creativity," Yang Yong, vice-president of Datang Telecom Technology Co, the listed arm of the group, said.

"Product development takes up to 75 percent of a startup's initial phase expenditure, so it's a huge saving for them."

Datang has also set up a committee to vet applicants, both from inside and outside the company, and supplies part of the seed funding.

Just like a venture capital firm, this gives the group a stake in startups, which can be recouped when they go public or are bought out.

Naturally, startups using the platform cannot expect indefinite support from Datang.

In fact, they have a year to attract external investors before the plug is pulled.

There are now about 12 teams working at the incubator in areas including education, healthcare, insurance and logistics.

One project backed by Datang, an app known as 365IME, has 80 million uses since it was rolled out two years ago to connect schools with parents.

Behind the app is a program run by the Ministry of Education, which does not usually contract work out to private companies.

But then most of startups spawned by Datang are similar to 365IME, which tap into government resources.

This gives 365IME the edge over similar apps backed by online companies such as Tencent Holdings Ltd.