Be brave to go your own way
After graduating from a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering at South China University of Technology in 2019, Junpeng did not follow the normal oath of stable employment. Striking out for something different and new, he applied to the HKUST IPO MPhil Individualized Interdisciplinary program. "It was with that move that I was intent on starting a business, and learnt how to develop my research interests into entrepreneurialism," he says. 

Serendipity makes all the difference
"I’ve always felt that life is about the people we meet and the experiences we have along the way," says Junpeng. At many times in our lives, luck can change absolutely everything. At HKUST, Junpeng was instructed by research entrepreneur Prof. Li Zexiang (李澤湘), who has nurtured many entrepreneurs including DJI founder Frank Wang Tao. This ecosystem offering entrepreneurial brilliance, and mentorship, set him on the path to greatness.

There is no point of ultimate success
The top entrepreneurs in the world know that there is no such thing as the concept of 'success' – innovation never sleeps. Junpeng constantly participates in competitions in Mainland China and Hong Kong. He was a two-year champion (2017-2018) of Robomaster, an annual intercollegiate robot competition in Shenzhen, founded and hosted by the drone tech giant DJI.  

A breakthrough with his killer idea
In China, the market for exterior wall painting is more than RMB75b a year. This colossal market relies heavily on labor, and there was no commercial automatic equipment for wall painting. "This market has many pitfalls, including high labor costs, low efficiency, and potential danger – I knew that robotics could solve these problems, so with seven classmates from HKUST, I developed an intelligent exterior wall painting robot," he says. The project won second prize in entrepreneurship at the 6th HK University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. It also garnered awards for Robot and AI work at the HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition.  

Being at the right place, at the right time
With the awards a sign of future success, Junpeng set up Jiancong 簡從Technology Co with 11 classmates. They used the concept of I Ching易經 (Book of Changes) for their company name: "With ease, it is easily understood, and with brevity, it is free of labor." (易則易知，簡則易從。). The team investigated the market and surmised that a robot for roof membrane waterproof welding might be an easy entry point into the construction market.

From smooth sailing to inevitable rough waters
Everything seemed straightforward at the beginning. The team had completed thousands of trials, and they thought their product might satisfy their customers. But for construction industry insiders, a sector highly hierarchical, the team of 20-something year-old upstarts was regarded as inexperienced and ignorant. While this was an obstacle, the core team stayed together: among the original HKUST classmates, three out of seven have remained, now bolstered with recruitment to make a total of 11 in the team. Currently, Li Long Chang is responsible for the robot design, and Yang Yi Hau runs software programming. Junpeng continues to be CEO and is in charge of marketing, sales, and strategy. 

Rolling through the punches, emerging stronger 
“I learned the hard way of the realities of business, balancing profit-making and creativity. In a competition, there is no constraint to innovate. But in an enterprise, profit is the priority, and there must be some compromise,” says Junpeng. But innovation remains the focus: Junpeng continues to optimize his AI robots, and now, recognition has come from the likes of China Construction Fourth Engineering Division and Dongguan Vanke Center Corp. LTD who are customers. 

Future visions offer an exciting prospect
Junpeng now targets Hong Kong, a region with high labor costs, as the first overseas market. After that, there will likely be great demand for his robots in other markets. “We are looking towards the future with an attitude of ‘loving what we do, and doing what we love’”, says Junpeng.