As a global financial hub and location of one of the world’s busiest container ports, Shanghai is China’s gateway to the world. The city’s population of 24 million includes a large base of sophisticated and cosmopolitan consumers, as well as 250,000 expats. It is no surprise then that the city is a popular home base for foreign companies. Its startup ecosystem is particularly strong in the fintech, gaming and ecommerce subsectors. Shanghai was home to 42 unicorn companies worth more than $1 billion as of the end of last year. Despite its historical strengths the Shanghai ecosystem was already facing a funding crunch when it was hit hard by the coronavirus crisis in early 2020. Startups in the city raised just $7.5 billion in the first quarter of last year. However, thanks to China’s success containing the outbreak, combined with a gusher of funding from the central bank to get the economy back on track, investment shot back up $13.2 billion and $12.2 billion in the next two quarters. In the final quarter of 2020, Shanghai was home to three of Asia’s top 10 largest funding rounds, a $735.85 million Series B for electric car company Enovate motors, a $315 million Series E round for industrial parts e-commerce platform Zhenkunhang, and $310 billion for early-stage biotech startup LianBio. Online medical care and remote learning companies have been particularly hot thanks to the impact of Covid-19.