Beijing's fledgling firms flocked to the National Conference Center on Tuesday to attract the attention of investors in a real-life Dragon's Den.

The event, part of the 2011 Global Mobile Internet Conference, saw entrepreneurs armed to the teeth with big ideas battle it out for startup cash in a question and answer session with venture capitalists.

"We're very excited," said Jesper Lodahl, 36, co-founder of the Beijing-based SmarTots, as he prepared to pitch his plan: offering high-tech tools for parents to help children learn better and faster. "We launched last December but haven't really done any PR. We're really proud to present it here."

His Canadian business partner Victor Wong, 40, added: "What really surprised me was the fact there are a lot of international VCs (venture capitalists). We mainly thought it was going to be Chinese VCs but there were a lot from the valley (Silicon Valley)."

The duo's pitch hit home with angel investor Stephen Bell. The American, who runs Trilogy Ventures China in Beijing, targeted the GMIC to scout out new potential projects.

"I heard some good pitches so far and I think SmarTots' pitch was very good," he said. "I saw a lot of interesting teams when I walked around today; some very young teams. I've talked to the ones I think are interesting.

"There are more technology-based startups coming out of China and I think there is more startup concentration in Beijing, especially because of the concentration of universities," added Bell.

For China Daily

(China Daily 04/28/2011)