High-quality incubators in Shanghai have built professional service platforms to provide startups with full-stack solutions, from experimental certifications to industrial resource allocation and even investment.

High-quality incubators are integrated service providers, Li Shihua, general manager at Sinan Semiconductor Incubator, told Yicai. They have solid capabilities to meet science and technology startups' needs by better integrating upstream and downstream resources and can deliver high-quality professional services thanks to their professional teams' understanding of the real needs of innovative and entrepreneurial firms, he explained.

Shanghai has 12 high-quality incubators, which have built over 20 professional services platforms, according to data from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology. Moreover, they have joined hands with financial institutions to offer startups financing services. So far, they have established or co-founded 10 incubation funds with a total scale of CNY5 billion (USD696.1 million).

When clients need to use international mainstream electronic design automation software, incubators' EDA service centers can provide them with shared rental services, helping them save about half of the software usage costs, Li said as an example of how incubators work.

Sinan Semiconductor has developed an incubation service model for semiconductor startups leveraging the industrial advantages of the Oriental Chip Port in the Lingang Special Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone that covers EDA design, wafer manufacturing, and packaging and testing certification, Li noted.

The partners of Sinan Semiconductor's EDA service center include international and domestic EDA manufacturers and vendors and design service providers, Li told Yicai, adding that the center has helped startups shorten their chip design cycles by 30 to 50 percent.

Moreover, through partnerships with semiconductor wafer manufacturers, Sinan Semiconductor's EDA service center has established a wafer manufacturing fast track for startups' innovative products, he noted.

Sinan Semiconductor's revenue mainly comes from rental fees of professional service centers, professional service fees, and investment returns, Li said.

The incubator also provides its clients with financial services. For example, it can introduce them to financial partners or directly offer them investment for high-potential projects and special support for disruptive technologies with high industrialization potential, Li explained.