Elite Business Schools have been famous for over a lot of years. Some of the major elite business schools are Harvard, Stanford, Colombia Business school, etc. Jack Ma, the founder of the popular e-commerce site Alibaba has also founded one of the elite business schools, Hupan University. Hupan University has announced that Jack Ma is stepping down as the president. Let’s look into more information about the Elite Business School founded by Jack Ma.
Jack Ma has announced that he will step down from the elite business school he had founded back in 2015. This is because of the crackdown on the influence of the billionaire in the Chinese society. The retreat from the academy is because the regulators of China have increased the pressure on Jack Ma.
Jack Ma had disappeared from public view from the day he had given a public speech against the Chinese regulators during the month of October. He had criticized the Chinese regulators and the state-owned banks.
Admission requirements for Hupan University
Hupan University which provides an executive training programme for entrepreneurs is claimed to be as hard to get into the university like Harvard or Stanford University. It was founded by Jack Ma in the year 2015 along with nine business executives.
The admission requirements of the university are very strict and accept only the candidates who have 3 years of experience in running their own business, employing at least 30 people, and have an annual revenue of around USD 4.5 million. They should also obtain 3 recommendations at least one of them which should be chosen by the university.
In the past 5 years, the university has admitted around 254 entrepreneurs and a total of 11,788 applicants have been admitted to the school. Together they employ over 1 million people and the average age of the admitted members is around 38 years and have been doing the business for the past 11 years.
So far, the school has offered 271 classes out of which most of the classes were undertaken by entrepreneurs of various traditional companies as well as internet companies. Unlike a traditional MBA school, Hupan University aims at inspiring the future entrepreneurs with a sense of social and moral responsibility.
Changes to Hupan University after Jack Ma Stepped down
As Jack Ma announced that he would step down from the Presidential position of Hupan University led to restructuring the educational programme of the university and has changed its name. Hupan had changed its name from its website and social media accounts to Hupan Innovation Center.
There were even videos released that showed workers removing the name from a large stone sign in front of the campus. The change of name was because only a licensed educational institution can mention its name as a university and Hupan is not an official university yet.
However, a person close to the business school has conveyed that Jack Ma would not hold any high profile post in the institution but several people have mentioned that he would remain connected to the school giving lectures in the future.
FAQ
Where is Hupan University located?
Hupan University is an elite business school located in Yuhu Bay, Xihu Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.
When was Hupan University founded?
Hupan University was founded in 2015 by Jack Ma with nine fellow business executives.
Why did Hupan University changed its name?
Hupan University changed its name to Hupan Innovation Center because only a licensed educational institution can mention its name as a university and Hupan is not an official university yet.
Entrepreneurship and Business are some of the growing professions in the recent times, and cohorts of entrepreneurs are working on their own startups with unique and actionable ideas. Startups with innovative ideas, applicable solutions, and a roadmap to build a fortune out of them are often funded by venture capital and investment firms. Such firms offer private equity finances to startups in need of funds in return for a fraction of the company itself. While there are discrete firms for such investment, larger corporations including Google and Microsoft haven’t held back from this either.
Alibaba Group is another such corporation that has taken to venture investment in startups, and has since invested in over 200 different funding rounds in smaller companies and startups. With the latest investment made in December of 2020, Alibaba Group has also made 4 diversity investments while also having acquired 32 organizations. So here we discuss 10 innovative and promising startups that the Alibaba Group has invested in, and the services they have to offer.
Lynk, a knowledge network to seek and share information, has raised a mammoth $24 million in Series B funding by Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and 2 other investors. Lynk offers a global network of over 840K knowledge partners from every major sector, enables users to build a knowledge platform, as well as create their own profile to get discovered and consequentially rewarded. Be it the investment sector, the corporate world, or even professional services, Lynk Answers has insights on most of the topics you can ask for, and while it is quite comprehensive in itself, Lynk is coming up with a couple of more platforms including the Lynk Circle and the Lynk Infinity.
Kloudless, an API integration platform for software developers, has raised about $7.3 million in Series and Seed funding from 17 investors, including the likes of Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and Bow Capital. Kloudless strives to unify endpoints and data models across SaaS API to evade all the redundant hard work that goes into recurrent coding. Along with the unification, Kloudless also offers other functionalities including cloud storage, event scheduling, customer relationship management (CRM), email and chat, as well as incident management. Users can also avail real-time activity monitoring without any API maintenance.
KKday is a travel experience platform that seeks to help others find and live their most ecstatic travel experience, and has raised about $107 million in different funding rounds from investors including the Alibaba Fund. When it comes to travel promotions, destinations, and trending products, KKday is one of the best platforms encompassing a variety of options, ranging from the adventure of deep sea to mesmerizing views from great heights. KKday also offers transportation including car rentals for local commute, as well as merchandise and commodities along with activities and also arranges for communication including sim cards and an internet connection.
Pickupp
Pickupp, an on-demand courier delivery service, has raised an undisclosed amount in 4 funding rounds and is backed by 10 investors including Cyberport Macro Fund and Alibaba. With its efficient door-to-door delivery service and delivery optimization, Pickupp helps online stores save up to 33% in the delivery costs. It offers on-demand service all seven days with real-time GPS tracking, drop off picture and e-signature, along with cash on delivery as well as API integrations. Moreover it also offers various plans including the Express Delivery service and the Same Day Delivery service, priced at different subscriptions so users can choose the better suited option.
ZStack, an open source Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) software, and has been funded by 13 investors and 3 lead investors, and has raised an enormous $49 million over 3 funding rounds. Its productionized IaaS software offers users a unified cloud to manage data center resources for computation and storage along with an intuitive UI and quick installation of cloud on physical servers. It is also supported by a one-click cross version update for business continuity and resource reusability. Moreover, any devices employing the x86 architecture with a CPU can deploy the ZStack software enterprise seamlessly.
Qupital
Qupital is a fintech platform based in Hong Kong, and has raised about $8 million in funding from various investors including the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. Qupital allows you to invest in some of the most promising E-commerce market with top notch digitized financing services by employing machine learning and data analysis. Qupital is known for the easy and straightforward application process with a data driven credit model without any mortgage. Moreover, with the quick loan and low cost financing, the complete process is streamlined and seamless.
Aqumon, a Hong Kong based fintech company and digital wealth management platform, thus far has raised about $30 million from 6 investors including the likes of Alibaba and Cyberport. Aqumon is one of Hong Kong’s leading investment platforms and allows you the access of smart portfolios in a matter of minutes. Aqumon has a seamless investment procedure where all yo need to do is offer some insights about yourself in a short test, and Aqumon finds the perfect portfolio for you, so you can watch as your money grows. Also, even if you can’t monitor the markets on a daily basis, or can’t find the best investments, Aqumon does it for you, while you can sit back and relax.
Kneron
Kneron is an AI based solutions provider, and has raised over $73 million in funding in 4 funding rounds from 9 investors including Qualcomm and Alibaba. Kneron’s innovative and robust on-device Edge AI offers solutions to work seamlessly with cloud based AI systems, to simultaneously generate and infer data and results. Kneron offers Reconfigurable Artificial Neural Network (RANN), that adapts to recognize audio, 2D, and 3D inputs while also being compatible with AI frameworks and neural networks. Moreover, it also enables users to customize and integrate total system hardware and software solutions to make it ideal for AI computing.
Airwallex is a global payments fintech platform that empowers businesses to operate seamlessly, and has raised $402 million in 11 funding rounds backed by 8 lead investors and a total of 17 investors. Airwallex enables business across the globe efficient and seamless trading and reduces currency exchange friction while also introducing you to revenue streams in newer markets. You can also hold your funds in a foreign currency, and reduce fee when converting and withdrawing funds in your preferred currency. Moreover, Airwallex also allows for low fee international payments with faster methods along with batch payments.
Prenetics
Prenetics, a genetic and diagnostic health testing platform has raised $67 million in funding from 10 investors including Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and Venture Capital. In the wake of the pandemic, Prenetics was appointed and sponsored by Hong Kong’s government for COVID-19 testing, and with the help of Oxsed, Prenetics has helped over 200K staff of restaurants, supermarkets, and other services by identifying and isolating infected individuals. Prenetics has always strived to provide valuable and actionable health related information and has till date conducted 400K DNA tests worldwide and counting.
Conclusion
Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund is a non-profit subdivision of the Alibaba Group, and is aimed at helping the Startup Ecosystem grow. While Alibaba offers a Youth and an Investment program that is more focused Hong Kong and Taiwan based entrepreneurs, it has also invested in Startups from India and other foreign countries with great upside potential. All in all, lately many industrial giants including Google and Microsoft have demonstrated interest in funding startups, and in the near future, revolutionary startup ideas will be more than welcome for investment capital and mentorship.
Ansh Mehrey
