Deals
Y Combinator to Set Up China Arm With Ex-Baidu Exec as CEO
- This marks the seed investor’s first international program
- Former Baidu COO, Qi Lu, will oversee the rollout in China
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Former Baidu Inc. executive Qi Lu has been named head of Y Combinator China, marking the American startup incubator’s first full-fledged international effort.
Y Combinator, which has seeded companies including Airbnb Inc., Stripe Inc., Reddit and Dropbox Inc., will start its program in China as soon as next summer. In the U.S., the accelerator selects two batches of companies a year for financing, advice and connections in exchange for a small percentage of equity. Lu will lead the Chinese program, which will be called YC China and adopt a similar approach though there may be tweaks to fit the domestic market, said Sam Altman, Y Combinator’s president.