Edible worms, pingpong bots: Startups find mecca in Shenzhen

Backed by venture capital, Hax brings groups of startups to Shenzhen and introduces them to the countless component suppliers and factories in and around the city to speed up prototype development.

Hax's latest class unveiled their prototypes this week to investors in Silicon Valley and online through Kickstarter campaigns to seek funding for manufacturing.

Users download a template onto a tablet device, load an image for a pattern and fit spools of yarn.

Roveo weighs 300 kilograms (660 pounds) and is up to 2 meters (6 feet) long, with four wheels whose innovative linkage system allows it to climb over tall obstacles while carrying heavy loads.

Livin Farms' Austrian founder Katharina Unger says mealworms are a healthy, sustainable alternative to modern, industrialized food production, delicious roasted and salted, as a minced meat substitute or ground into flour for bread or tortillas.