Three days after resigning as the head of Google's China operations, Lee Kaifu says he's raised 115 million US dollars to create a company to fund high-tech start-ups in China.
At a news conference Monday morning in Beijing, Lee Kaifu says the new company, Innovation Works will search for talented Chinese engineers and entrepreneurs and help them develop the next generation of Internet and mobile computing technologies.
Lee says he will spend one-hundred-and-15 million US dollars in the next five years to help start-ups, and he's willing to employ fresh graduates.
Lee Kaifu said "I am willing to open one third of the company's jobs to college graduates."
Lee Kaifu has established strong links to Chinese universities during his past few years in China and is very popular among college students as a knowledgeable and easy-going commercial leader. Lee says he is transforming from a professional manager to a coach for young entrepreneurs who want to start up companies.
Lee Kaifu said "We think Chinese start-ups are lack of experience and information. They need training."
During his past four-years of service in Google as its global vice president and head of its Chinese division, Lee Kaifu has doubled the search engine's market share to 33 percent in the largest internet market of the world, second only to local giant Baidu.
Google hired Lee Kaifu from Microsoft in 2005 and was sued for poaching him.
Lee says Google offered to renew his contract, but he felt at the right stage in his life to move on to his next challenge.
(CCTV September 8, 2009)
