This is a provisional study ahead of a full paper presented at the annual conference of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) in Cardiff, Wales, in 2021.

Entrepreneurial ventures are an important source of economic growth and technological advance. China is a vibrant entrepreneurial setting, second only to the US in total startup numbers and funding amounts.

Innovative region: China

Lockscreen content provider Glance is raising $200m from Jio Platforms at a unicorn valuation while Sobot, Smart Logic and Akulaku each secured $100m.

Fujifilm, Tokyu and Persol’s newly formed investment vehicles will help their respective corporate parents expand their open innovation roadmaps.

DMG Ventures contributed to a $50m round for online stationery brand Papier while Hannover Digital Investments helped cross-border payment service Vitesse secure $26m.

Legend Capital led the 3D printing technology provider’s latest round, which included Lingang SC-Innovation and which came seven months after a Haier Hai Chuanghui-backed series B.

Reliance Industries’ investment in the electric vehicle developer highlights growth in India’s expanding EV market.

Cybersecurity technology producer Salt Security nabbed $140m in a CapitalG-led round while healthcare unicorn Thirty Madison merged with Comcast-backed Nurx.

Data analytics platform developer Starburst raised $250m in a Salesforce-backed round valuing it above $3.3bn while SoftBank co-led a $140m round for small molecule drug developer Ventus.