Inspire 1, an unmanned aerial vehicle model developed by Shenzhen DJI Technology Co. (Photo provided to China Daily)
A few years ago, they were not as big as telecom-equipment provider Huawei Technologies Co and Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, which had already helped build Shenzhen into a global player driven by innovation.
Among the hundreds of startups proliferating in Shenzhen, two minnows which have now become big fish are Royole Corporation, an electronic equipment maker, and DJI Technology Co, a producer of civilian drones.
These two firms, which were initially housed in small and extremely basic offices in the outskirts of Shenzhen, have now developed into industry leaders thanks to persistent and increased investment in innovation over years of development.
Royole, now focusing on research and development of novel information display technologies, especially the research, design, development and manufacturing of the flexible displays and related electronic devices, has so far developed more than 200 intellectual property rights of core technologies since it was founded in 2012.
"The technologies will soon turn into real products, which are expected to bring about huge market value for us," said Liu Zihong, chief executive officer of Royole.
In July last year, the company successfully launched the world's thinnest full-color flexible display that has been integrated with a smartphone.
The thickness of the display, which can be easily bendable as well as rollable, is only about 0.01 mm, less than one fifth the diameter of a human hair, according to the company.
"Flexible displays will be used in various electronic products as they have many advantages such as being ultra-thin, lightweight, bendable, portable and energy-efficient," Liu said.
According to Liu, the company will be capable of producing one million flexible displays a month after production facilities are fully put into operation.
"We will expand the production capacity in accordance with the booming market demand," Liu said.
Three years ago, Liu's company was headquartered in a small office with an area of less than 100 square meters in an old industrial park.
"For Royole, Shenzhen is China's answer to Silicon Valley," Liu said.
After quitting his job at IBM as an engineer and research scientist in 2012, Liu, then 29, started his business by creating two operation facilities in Shenzhen and Silicon Valley in the United States.
"In Shenzhen, a startup company will find it easy to turn technologies into real products as the city has developed a very sound industrial chain - from raw materials, chips, electronic components and parts to circuit boards," he said.
After four rounds of investment from overseas venture capital, following the introduction of a series of innovative technologies, Royole has now developed into a global company with a market value in excess of $1 billion.
Royole's success story is no isolated example.
According to the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, the city now has more than 4,700 high-tech companies, mainly focusing on fourth-generation technology, ultra-material, three-dimension display and gene sequence.
DJI Technology Co, for example, has become a global leader in the manufacturing of drones, after it was established nine years ago with just six staff members in a small apartment in Shenzhen's Lianhuabei area.
When the company was launched it was manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles, as drones are officially known, without moving cameras.
"We have made great efforts in developing new technologies and products by installing safe moving cameras on units, which helped create a huge consumer market," said Wang Tao, the founder of DJI.
Its products now account for nearly 70 percent of the world's small-scale consumer drone market.
