2018 Taipei Startup Conference Building a New Industry PlatformTaiwan External Trade Development Council

Hosted by TAITRA and KOTRA, the 2018 Taipei Startup Conference was held for the first time on November 15. The conference gathered 10 Korean startups that pitched their companies in front of renowned Taiwanese venture capitalists and firms. KOTRA is sending the top three winners of the pitch competition to Taiwan to join COMPUTEX 2019’s innovation and startup area ‘InnoVex’.

In recent years, a major issue for Taiwan and Korea has been the question of cultivating startups. TAITRA Chairman Mr. James C. F. Huang said that the Taiwanese government aims to become an Asian capital in the field and is taking steps in five policy directions: capital, human resources, regulations, market entry and international opportunities. In parallel, Korea has persuaded leading enterprises to help build the startup Ecosystem and bring Korean startups to the international arena. TAITRA and KOTRA hosted the 2018 Taipei Startup Conference as a means of fostering startups.

KOTRA invited ten startup teams from leading fields such as AI, big data, healthcare, cybersecurity, fintech and more. Teams included NP CORE, which has an investment from JAFCO, Minds Lab. which constructed the first AI customer service center in Korea and its Spin-off ‘Lululab’, which is being nurtured by Samsung Incubator. These Korean startups displayed cutting-edge technologies from Korea.

The event showcased Taiwan’s startup ecosystem and Innovation Incubator plan. It invited the startup Toss Lab Inc. to share their successful experience in Taiwan. The Pitch competition panel included members of the accelerator StarFab, Appworks and Yuanta VC, who selected the top three Korean startups. The three finalists were Jocoos (video technology), Eyedea (image tracking and deep learning platform), and Fin2B (financing solutions for SMEs).

Taiwan’s affluent ICT industry and resources have become a most attractive competitive arena. TAITRA Chairman Mr. James C. F. Huang said he expects the conference will create a new platform to connect Taiwanese and Korean startups. Beaming with startup energy, the conference is expected to be held annually and to become an industry pillar in Taiwan and Korea.