"Atypical talents" gather in the "Oriental Silicon Valley": Why has Liangzhu become a new testing ground for the development of the digital economy?

On September 25, the Liangzhu "Digital Habitat Bay AI + Industrial Community" (hereinafter referred to as "Digital Habitat Bay") was officially opened at Yuniao Liusu in Liangzhu Cultural Village. This AI industry incubation platform, jointly built by multiple parties and located in Liangzhu New City, focuses on cutting - edge fields such as artificial intelligence, the digital nomad economy, and cultural and creative industries. Its aim is to provide full - cycle support for global AI explorers from the germination of ideas to leading the ecosystem.

The signing ceremony site of the opening ceremony projects

At the opening ceremony, the first batch of hosts, including Master Qi, Dr. Tao, Krypton Host, Hang Yimo, and Xiaoni from Egypt, as well as the Hangchuang (Artificial Intelligence) Camp and AI + industrial projects, officially signed contracts to settle in, marking another crucial step for Liangzhu as the "Eastern Silicon Valley".

At the ceremony site, the highly anticipated "Eight Measures for Digital Habitat" were also released, which will provide more comprehensive, stronger, and more sincere support in terms of funds, space, and business guidance for the settled enterprises. The corresponding supporting service facility, the "Digital Habitat Bay Talent Station", was also officially unveiled.

In the past few years, with its unique charm of being "away from the city but not from the tranquility", Liangzhu has continuously attracted more and more entrepreneurs to gather here. The Liangzhu Digital Habitat Bay AI + Industrial Community is a haven dedicated by local administrators to all "SEEKers" (explorers) engaged in AI industry innovation and entrepreneurship, creating the preferred place for them to start their dreams and take a rest. With the release of the special policy of the "Eight Measures for Digital Habitat", Liangzhu will further commit to building an all - around and deeply integrated innovation ecosystem from space, community, to resources and technology. As the vision put forward by Liangzhu New City at the meeting goes, "Let Liangzhu become the next AI rainforest where not only technology thrives but also humanity flows."

The Liangzhu Charm of "Coding in the Forest"

At the opening ceremony on September 25, many of the first - batch hosts who settled in "Digital Habitat Bay" actually came to Liangzhu Cultural Village to settle down or start businesses spontaneously several years ago. "The end of the universe is Liangzhu", this slightly joking catchphrase, is the common understanding of their choice of Liangzhu.

Currently, thousands of "digital villagers" have gathered in Liangzhu. Apart from the picturesque scenery that is perfect for taking photos at any time and the slow - paced "anti - big - company" lifestyle, there is also a civilization heritage of thousands of years, urban facilities close to the commercial center of Hangzhou, and a digital innovation spirit for the future.

People who first come to Liangzhu are often first amazed by the healing natural environment. The work scene has shifted from the cubicles in glass - curtain - wall buildings to cultural spaces with a strong sense of design or community cafes. Codes are written under the thick green shade, and meetings are held accompanied by the sound of birdsong. "I can finally see the real change of seasons again," said Xiao Qi, a digital nomad who moved to Liangzhu last year.

When digital nomads come to Liangzhu, it doesn't mean they have to live a reclusive life. Instead, they choose a "Liangzhu life algorithm" of being "away from the city but not from the world": going to big companies for requirement review meetings in the morning and going back to the village to edit videos and write codes in the afternoon, keeping in sync with the pulse of the business world and the future of the industry; for 2,500 yuan per month, they can rent a 50 - square - meter loft, use the shared office space with printing, coffee, and Wi - Fi, and have organic Hangzhou cuisine for 20 yuan a day - the low cost of living relieves the anxiety of nomads who have lived in first - tier cities for a long time.

The location map of Liangzhu Cultural Village

When they don't need to work, villagers like to gather with friends in cafes with "village - style prices", or watch an open - air movie with a 9.9 - yuan fresh beer in hand, or explore new possibilities of life in handicraft workshops. It can be said that the Liangzhu version of "work - life balance" is a quantifiable state of "able to embrace prosperity when needed and enjoy tranquility when desired".

At the iconic landmarks in the cultural village, the Grand Roof (Liangzhu Culture and Art Center) and the Grand Barn (Unidirectional Space Bookstore), there are new art exhibitions, drama performances, and cultural lectures every week. After the China Academy of Art settled in Liangzhu, it has deeply integrated with the community, allowing students and villagers to communicate naturally - these dense and high - quality cultural resources have achieved the "spiritual enrichment" of the villagers.

It starts with nature, is fascinated by culture, and ends with innovation. Compared with Dali in Yunnan or Anji in Zhejiang, the greatest attraction of Liangzhu to digital villagers comes from the bottom - up and spontaneous innovation atmosphere.

For example, well - known film and television UP owners like "Film and Television Hurricane" and top - tier technology reviewers like "He Tongxue" have set up their studios in Liangzhu. Similarly, science and technology innovation communities like Wayto AGI, which are among the first - batch settled hosts, regularly hold salons and seminars in Liangzhu, making Liangzhu a magnet that attracts a large number of top - notch researchers and creators with the same frequency. That's why Liangzhu is also called the "Eastern Silicon Valley" by nomads.

The 36Kr Dark Surge WAVES Conference was held in Liangzhu

In addition, more and more e - commerce entrepreneurs, online education practitioners, and other freelancers are also flocking to Liangzhu. While enjoying life, they connect with the world with a single computer and create new business value. It can be said that Liangzhu is proving one thing: ideal work and life are not a single - choice question. Those who escape the "rat race" in first - tier cities, independent creators, AI researchers, remote workers, and entrepreneurs are successively coming to this place that is close to nature, the city, culture, and the future to rest, connect, create, and develop a unique new work civilization.

Systematic Cultivation from "Giving Preferences" to "Giving an Ecosystem"

Regarding the spontaneously formed innovation atmosphere in Liangzhu, the administrators of the "Eastern Silicon Valley" "only give without asking for anything in return". They don't deliberately create concepts but accurately identify the needs of new immigrants and thus provide them with just - right support. Under the management logic of following the trend, Liangzhu has built the "Digital Habitat Bay AI + Industrial Community" and released the "Eight Measures for Digital Habitat" at the opening ceremony, which covers the entire cycle of enterprises from start - up to maturity.

Specifically, the "Eight Measures for Digital Habitat" provide a number of subsidies to reduce the early fixed costs of enterprises registered and actually settled in "Digital Habitat Bay", and offer a number of real - money subsidies to high - end talents and cutting - edge projects. For example, for projects that actually settle in and operate normally, the rent for office space within 300 square meters will be fully waived for three years.

In addition, the more innovative support of the "Eight Measures for Digital Habitat" lies in the following aspects for technology R & D projects such as AI. On the one hand, an angel fund with a scale of 50 million yuan has been established, planning to support dozens of village projects every year and providing discount loan subsidies. The maximum discount loan support for the principal of 2 million yuan can be enjoyed within three years. On the other hand, "model vouchers" and "computing power vouchers" are issued to provide computing power and model service support, reducing the R & D and application thresholds, and various activities are held around the AI + industry to promote project market expansion, brand improvement, and industry - academia cooperation.

In the view of the Liangzhu management department, the community is not just a manager but plays the role of a connection and integration platform for various resources needed for entrepreneurship with the spirit of a "shop assistant" - helping entrepreneurial nomads connect with policies, find partners, and provide a display stage, so that ideas and projects can take root better in Liangzhu.

As the physical aggregation place of the Liangzhu science and technology innovation ecosystem, "Digital Habitat Bay" is centered on the core positioning of "AI industry + innovative talents + community ecosystem", aiming to build a composite ecological community with AI technology as the core, digital nomads and innovative talents as the main body, and Liangzhu culture as the foundation.

Based on this positioning, "Digital Habitat Bay" has a spatial layout and functional design of "Four Fields", which is open 24 hours a day, creating a complete closed - loop from "idea germination → prototype verification → resource connection → large - scale development", including -

Opportunity Field: Provide space for DEMO evaluation and display and event hosting, promoting resource connection, opportunity release, and idea monetization;

Fermentation Field: Equip with flexible road - show and prototype testing spaces to help teams quickly verify ideas and promote the implementation of ideas;

Occurrence Field: Build high - concentration and symbiotic maker communities such as shared offices, theme salons, and coffee communication areas to promote inspiration collision, ability complementation, and trust building among nomads;

Freedom Field: Equip with shared office areas, meeting rooms, leisure areas, and immersive silent areas to create an open and inclusive office and rest environment.

The schematic diagram of the "Four Fields" space in "Digital Habitat Bay"

The official of Liangzhu New City deeply realizes that what matters is not how much subsidy or how large the office space is provided, but truly understanding and responding to the deep - seated innovation needs of digital nomads and entrepreneurs, that is, an ecosystem where they are understood, supported, and connected. The organic integration of the "Four Fields" precisely builds an innovation ecosystem where "people, resources, and fields" are deeply intertwined, providing systematic support for innovative enterprises from "0 to 1 and then to ∞".

A Sticky Digital Innovation Habitat

The Liangzhu "Digital Habitat Bay" is not just about building an industrial community. Instead, it tries to respond to a deeper - level proposition of the era's development: In the digital economy era with high talent mobility and rapid industrial iteration, how can a community truly retain people, cultivate businesses, and fulfill dreams? And for a living community, the core KPI is just one thing: stickiness.

Liangzhu's answer is to be a nursery from 0 to 1 rather than a policy - exploiting station. The core path is to build a step - by - step cultivation platform from the germination of ideas, accelerated growth, to leading the ecosystem based on artificial intelligence and the AI + industry.

This policy vision corresponds to the industrial development strategy of forming a "three - step" process for digital economy entrepreneurship: "from ∞ to 1 (from nothing to something)" for idea germination, "from 1 to 10" for cultivation and incubation, and "from 10 to ∞ (infinity)" for large - scale advancement. In terms of specific physical space and support systems, they correspond to Digital Habitat Bay, Hangchuang (Artificial Intelligence) Camp, and the Innovation Center respectively, ultimately forming an "AI + digital nomad" hybrid ecosystem that can self - sustain internally and be replicated externally.

The schematic diagram of the cultivation system

"Digital Habitat Bay": Cultivating Idea Germination from ∞ to 1 (from Nothing to Something)

As the starting point of the entire Liangzhu digital industrial ecosystem, "Digital Habitat Bay" focuses on providing an initial growth environment for cultivating "idea germination" for scattered ideas and small teams. As the "first stop" for entrepreneurs, its core mission is to help entrepreneurs make a breakthrough from nothing to something. Even if there is only one person and a prototype idea, they can settle in and enjoy low - cost, flexible shared office and experimental spaces, open - style technology platforms and computing power support, as well as initial angel funds, mentor guidance, and resource connection.

"Hangchuang (Artificial Intelligence) Camp": Running - alongside and Accelerating from 1 to 10

When the settled projects are initially verified and need to start large - scale development, the key lies in "introducing fresh water", not being restricted by capital, and being able to smoothly achieve product - market fit.

At this stage, the "Digital Habitat · Hangchuang (Artificial Intelligence) Camp" takes over. It is understood that the "Hangchuang Camp" is a "running - alongside incubator" jointly initiated by Yuanjing Capital and Hangzhou Capital, providing services for settled projects including financing connection and equity support, in - depth industrial resource connection and application scenario opening, and entrepreneurship training camps, helping project teams with initial idea prototypes and basic technical frameworks to deepen technology R & D and promote result transformation.

"Innovation Center": Leading the Ecosystem from 10 to ∞

Enterprises that are initially mature and need to further expand their scale and influence can move to the "Digital Habitat · Innovation Center". Here, it can provide a carrier for the landing and operation of mature enterprises and large - scale projects, offer customized industrial spaces, and provide special services such as policy application, talent introduction, and brand expansion overseas.

The schematic diagram of the Innovation Center

The industrial ecosystem of "Digital Habitat Bay" is not all - encompassing but precisely focuses on high - growth and high - integration tracks. In addition to the already - scaled digital nomad economy and digital cultural and creative industries, it also includes the AI + future industries as the underlying technology and innovation engine, as well as AI - driven hardware innovation, intelligent robots, and industrial digital solutions, jointly forming the industrial foundation of "Digital Habitat Bay" with a combination of hardware and software and a symbiosis of the virtual and the real.

In the wave of the digital economy, entrepreneurs are like birds, flying around to find their own habitats. Liangzhu's long - term vision is to be a "nest - builder", creating a community IP with a strong "technological power