Li Jianfeng, a scholar-type maker with a business at Jingrong Town, Chengdu, and a professor with University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, will soon fly to Silicon Valley, the U.S. together with his team members to vie for glory on behalf of China at the grand finale of the Startup World Cup 2017, which will be held on March 24 (local time). 

Acclaimed as the "Oscar Award" of the innovation field, the Startup World Cup is a global conference and competition that brings together the top startups, VCs, entrepreneurs and world-class tech CEOs. The top winner will be awarded an investment prize of 1 million U.S. dollars.  

Winning laurels at the Sichuan and China finals of the coveted event demonstrates that Li and his team are getting on the right track with their business model, Li told NBD in an interview on March 20. 

Their mini material composition analysis device, called Light Talk, is designed to make material composition analysis previously exclusive to labs available in common families, impressing great minds from Microsoft, Lenovo, AngelList, Tencent, and other leading companies with its amazing portability.

The molecular sensor has drawn great attention of the market though it is some way from volume production. 

A number of companies such as Changhong have signed framework agreements with Li's team. Li said that the technology can be embedded into household appliances like refrigerators, ushering the public into the era of smart home. 

With the product as the basis, he expects to build China's own database to house big data.  

Despite hardships ahead, Li and his team will work hard to bring the product to market by the second half of this year, and will explore more business models for further development, Li underscored. 

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn