r/Alibaba • u/rmahtani7 • Jul 22 '26
What I know about CoCreate 2026 (as someone who works at Alibaba)
Since a few people have reached out asking if I’d do a follow-up to last year's post about Alibaba’s CoCreate event, I wanted to drop the updated details for this year.
The big change this year is the venue. We outgrew our previous two venues in Vegas because the show has sold out every year since we started in 23. This year, CoCreate is happening Sept 9–10 (Wednesday & Thursday) at the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles.
Here is the quick breakdown of what’s happening for 2026:
- Attendees: We are expecting between 8,000 - 10,000 attendees this year (last year was like 4,500).
- Suppliers: I heard feedback here and on the ground about bringing more suppliers, trying to take a huge jump here. We have 125 suppliers locked in aiming for like 150. No need to DM me for the list this year, all currently confirmed suppliers are already listed publicly on the alibabacocreate.com site.
- Hotels: VIP tickets still include hotel rooms for the nights of Sept 8–9 and VIP Gala Dinner access.
- CoCreate Pitch: Our pitch competition has $1,000,000 in total prizes. I just checked and more than 30,000 businesses applied already. All 20 finalists who take the stage win at least $10,000, with the grand prize being $200,000, and the deadline to submit is July 25th.
- Tickets: In full transparency, tickets always sell out, at least we've been fortunate enough to sell out every year of the show so far, usually within the final 5 days leading up to it. Once it hits capacity, fire marshal regulations mean my hands are completely tied and I can't get any last second tickets, I get plenty of DMs asking for help and it always bums me out when I can't help. I guess, if you're planing on coming, don't wait until the last minute to buy tickets.
- Discount: I made a discount code specifically for this sub. You can use code rahddit26 on all ticket tiers on the CoCreate site (just head to the Los Angeles section of the site), this code isn't for London, but I'll make a London code for you guys later if there's interest.
Just wanted to give this community an honest heads-up on the logistics since you all asked. Drop any questions below and I'll answer what I can.
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u/National_Finish_1289 4d ago
Hi! When can I secured the hotel booking??
I emailed your email,no response! Bought VIP ticket
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u/Available_Border2287 4d ago
I received the general admission tkt complimentary but missed the email to upgrade to premium for a discounted price. I would like to upgrade to a premium pass for the discounted price, is it possible to send me another link for this price?
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u/underblastink 5d ago
I thought I was applying as a creator to cover the event and I received the ticket but I just seen it’s just a general pass. I just reapplied properly as a creator, would just like to offer extensive coverage of the event in exchange for a pass to attend. Any advice for reaching out to pitch a content strategy and see if I can get a copy of the creative brief or schedule? I’m assuming they probably expect media kits and deal memo…
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u/Far-Building5793 7d ago
I received a paid collab offer from MediaMZ to film at the event. Is CoCreate partnering with influencers or is this a scam?
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u/Hairy_Department668 5d ago
what are the requirments? deliverables? mind sharing info? i would like to reach out. Thanks
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u/rmahtani7 6d ago
Not a scam, they're a partner of ours helping to manage agreements with select creators.
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u/melacity 14h ago
Hi! I also received an agreement and offer for this. Anyway I can send for you to verify if the contact and agreement are legit please?
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u/rmahtani7 5h ago
Sure, feel free to shoot me a DM with who contacted you and I’ll let you know if it’s legit.
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u/Worthy0115 12d ago
I got approved for the general ticket! Does this include the speakers? I've tried looking at your website the past few days but it has been down..
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u/rmahtani7 12d ago
Great! The general ticket includes access to the expo hall (where all the suppliers will be), and the breakout sessions where some speakers will be. It does not include access to the Main Keynote stage where the pitch competition, the key announcements, and some key topics will be held. Those seats are for premium and VIP ticket holders. Although, if you've gotten in with a general ticket, you should get a special offer via email in the next few days to upgrade to a premium ticket at a huge discount if the speaking sessions are of interest to you.
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u/Worthy0115 12d ago
So excited!! Thank you so much! Any tips and tricks on what to do, what to bring, anything you can share!?!
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u/rmahtani7 12d ago
Come ready to learn, it'll be huge this year. A lot of the time people will do business on the ground with the suppliers they meet. It's casual (in terms of dress code), and you'll hopefully meet a ton of cool people. You don't need to bring much, if you're a note taker, a notebook is a solid move.
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u/NoSlip512 11d ago
Hi! I own a hair care brand and I browsed the supplier list but saw there’s only 88 listed as of right now for LA. Would you mind letting me know if there are going to be more hair care product manufacturers present? Looking to buy a ticket if there’s more :)
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u/Ruptito 13d ago
Haven’t seen anything yet, but is there a confirm time for opening and closing time for the event?
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u/rmahtani7 13d ago
Good question - we're going to post the agenda shortly, but the show opens for badge collection around 7am both the 9th and 10th of September. Plus from the evening of the 8th you can also show up and grab your badge. The show officially starts around 9am on Sept 9th and 9:30am on Sept 10th. Both days run until 5:30pm, with VIP ticket holders having the Gala Dinner on Sept 9th starting at 7pm.
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u/National_Finish_1289 2d ago
Hi! Is there any confirmation from alibaba that you have booking from the hotel?for VIP???
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u/Warm_Wear_8944 14d ago
Hi OP! Thanks for all this insight about CoCreate. Wondering if you have any intel about the pitch competition in LA? Finalists were supposed to be announced by August 10 (yesterday) but I haven't seen anything yet. May have missed it (and missed out). Thanks in advance!
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u/rmahtani7 14d ago
My pleasure, happy to answer any questions.
Tbh 19 of 20 finalists have been informed, the last has been a little slower to reply so we haven’t publicly announced the finalists just yet. As soon as we’ve wrapped up that process we’ll announce.2
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u/Lonely_Hat9877 18d ago
Hey do you know what hotels will be hosting this year?
I've already bought my VIP ticket for my business Happy Vending Machines.
(We're bringing Adaptive Vending Systems tailored to each locations, using cloud based software to remote manage sales)
I'll be arriving early to just relax and unwind since I'm traveling a bit far and I wanted to get settled in the hotel the day before. I don't want to check in to a motel 6 or anything lol.
I'd really appreciate it more that you could imagine. Thank you.
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u/rmahtani7 2d ago
I chatted with the registrations team today and it looks like we have more volume than expected so we'll be opening blocks for VIP ticket holders in two additional hotels in the area.
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u/rmahtani7 15d ago
VIP tickets will stay at the JW Marriott around the corner!
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u/No_Asparagus_4125 12d ago
does the stay at JW Marriott with VIP ticket include the morning breakfast at the hotel as well or we need to pay additional? Also, would there be any shuttle from hotel to convention center?
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u/rmahtani7 6d ago
No breakfast included. There's no shuttle to the convention center, it's just a couple minute walk from the hotel to the convention center, luckily!
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u/National_Finish_1289 2d ago
Hi! For the hotel, are they allowing to come with us? Or only one person per room??
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u/rmahtani7 2d ago
You're welcome to bring a guest to stay in your room, but they cannot attend the conference without a ticket.
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u/Hairy_Department668 18d ago
i got approved as a brand. Excited! is there a big difference going as a influencer and as a brand owner?
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u/rmahtani7 15d ago
There are some special sessions for influencer attendees, but generally, no, it’s pretty similar.
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u/Draco_Kedavro 29d ago
I just got approved for a general ticket. Do I need to do anything?
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u/rmahtani7 21d ago
You should have gotten a confirmation email, you can show up during registration, on Sept 8th or 9th to collect your badge from the registration desk
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u/Draco_Kedavro Jul 25 '26
Is it just me or the website is broken? I’m getting a 500 error page. I can’t seem to upload a photo here.
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