Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub (TEH) is a startup community service platform under the “International Startup Softlanding Project" initiated by the Department of Economic Development of Taipei City Government to promote Taipei's entrepreneurial environment and resources to the international startup community and to strengthen the connections between international startups and Taipei's enterprises, investors, and government. Duringtheir Demo Days, outstanding startups from around the world were invited to explore potential collaboration opportunities, with TEH assisting in their development in Taipei. To date, this program has provided 110 international startups from 39 countries worldwide in total with opportunities to come to Taiwan, and has helped 15 international startups set up their businesses in Taipei. This year, following two rounds of international online pitch contests, 10 overseas teams were selected by Cathay Financial Holdings, Lion Travel, and Globaltown Development to pitch and participate in the networking/matchmaking activities in Taiwan, exchanging their ideas with the representative Taiwanese companies.
With Focus on Insurance and Investment, FinTech Innovative Services, Facilitating Upgrading of the Existing Industries
This year's Demo Day line-up spans across four fields of technological innovation: finance, real estate, travel and ESG. Among them, the Fintech teams in the investment and insurance sectors have distinguished themselves with innovative technological capabilities and in-depth industry know-how to develop B2B business models that converge with existing industries such as insurance companies and asset management companies, while blockchain technology and artificial intelligence are the most important keywords. For example, Ensuro, the world's first decentralized (re)insurer licensed to employ blockchain technology, uses smart contracts to plan competitive insurance portfolios; MotionsCloud's AI damage assessment engine can be used to inspect property, such as vehicles, to digitally optimize the efficiency and correctness of the insurance claims process; Soft Solvers Solutions focuses on insurance distribution systems, developing Agiliux for independent insurance brokers and agencies to improve distribution efficiency and customer experience.
In terms of investment technologies, HedgeSPA employs artificial intelligence and quantum computing technologies, along with big data analysis from the market/data economy, fundamental indicators, user data, and even news and social media sources, to assist asset managers in developing investment products that perform better. By giving investors information to aid in the development of their own trading strategies, as well as by emphasizing the increasing relevance of ESG information, Stratiphy also offers services to asset managers and public investors. Additionally, CoolBitX, a global blockchain security startup, is a representative of the local Taipei team. With more than 300,000 CoolWallet users globally and more than 45 exchanges worldwide who have signed MoUs for Sygna, CoolBitX is a market leader in the digital asset sector.
Opportunities in "Labor Efficiency" and "Workforce Value Enhancement" through Technology
In real estate technology, Israel's Rootie Robot makes use of robots and AI technology for site management, such as monitoring and lowering pollution emissions for property maintenance and outdoor property monitoring. JGB Smart Property (JGB), a Taipei-based real estate technology company, also demonstrates its one-stop rental management system with a full range of housing management operations, including shelving, online contracting, automated invoicing, repair management, and smart IOT device connection. Their services replace time-consuming human tasks with automated cloud-based processes, which significantly increase property management efficiency and provide tenants with better experiences.
In terms of travel technology, TUBUDD, a Vietnamese team, has developed a "local buddy system" in response to the trend of post-pandemic tourism, allowing local "buddies" to provide in-depth travel services that match their personal preferences, and standardizing the classification of local "buddies" in their areas of expertise through a training program to provide a better travel experience for tourists. Taipei is represented by Taiwan's largest English-language walking tour company “Like It Formosa”, which trains locals to introduce the city they live in and helps foreigners appreciate Taiwan from a local's perspective on the other. The team has been awarded the TripAdvisor Excellence Award for 2017~2020 and Freetour.com's 2018 Third Best Free Tour in Asia. Both teams' development directions show that the trend of "in-depth, localized" travel is continuing.
Technological Innovations in Life – Sustainability Becomes a Good Business Opportunity
In terms of sustainability, for instance, the German company Choose-Eat has developed an app that applies AI to offering users customizable menus and best meal recommendations, promoting a healthy diet and being a godsend for those with dietary restrictions. In order to incentivize businesses and individuals to participate in philanthropy, Hepta Protocol is committed to creating a blockchain-based philanthropic ecosystem that gives donors access to open and transparent information and improves the efficacy of each gifting. In order to increase the effectiveness of training through a gamified experience and quantifiable system, especially during the pandemic, Manabu, the main product of Japan's Tsunagaru Edutech, applies the concept and technology of online courses to an interactive corporate training platform.
Entrepreneurial companies from across the world showcased their dynamism, inventiveness, ambition, and expectations for the Taipei market during TEH Demo Day 2.0. We aspire to entice more excellent foreign teams to enhance Taiwan's new innovation energy while introducing these cutting-edge services to Taipei through the Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub platform and the full backing of the Taipei City Government.
