A total of 5,016 startup projects have already registered for the HICOOL 2022 Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent, according to the organizing committee of the competition.

Established in 2020, HICOOL is an all-in-one startup ecosystem platform managed by Beijing Overseas Talents Association, aiming at facilitating entrepreneurs and startups to base and develop in Beijing.

There are 6,672 applicants this year, of which 1,555 are foreign participants, accounting for 23 percent, up 20 percent from last year.

A total of 2,946 projects were registered in the overseas group and 2,070 were registered in the domestic group, accounting for 59 percent and 41 percent respectively.

This year, the contestants come from 91 countries and regions including the Asia-Pacific area, North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Oceania.

Among them, doctoral degree holders account for 21 percent, master’s degree holders account for 38 percent, and those with a bachelor’s degree account for 33 percent, so that the competition maintains a high academic background.

A total of 1,157 contestants graduated from top 30 universities of the QS World University Rankings, double last year’s number.

According to the latest statistics, 72 winning projects received financing of 19.5 billion yuan ($2.91 billion) at HICOOL 2020 and 2021, of which post-competition financing was 13.9 billion yuan.

In each of the past three years, the HICOOL has selected a group of innovative projects and enterprises with world-leading technologies.

The top talents and high-quality entrepreneurship projects were promoted to settle down in Beijing through bonuses, policies and services, advancing the gathering of high-level talents to serve the capital’s development.