Since 2018, Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan has been promoting the "G Camp," a project that provides comprehensive training, including global fundraising, negotiation skills, and international marketing capabilities through experienced international mentors. G Camp has nurtured more than 92 startups and created more than US$10 million in business profits. This year, eight finalist startups - AIPLUX, AiSeed, Asiabots, FaceHeart, Panelsemi, SiriuXense, Uniigym, and VMFi - were selected from the 6th edition of G Camp to head forward Web Summit 2022 for exploring business opportunities in the global market.
Showcasing Taiwan's Innovative Technologies and Entrepreneurial Capabilities
Web Summit is one of the largest annual innovation and technology exhibitions of the world. Over 70,000 attendees from more than 160 countries attended Web Summit, including more than 1,200 investors and 2,500 media participants, bringing huge business benefits to Taiwan's exhibitors. Especially, Asiabots stood out from more than 2,000 startups worldwide to be selected officially by Web Summit as the Top 105 to pitch on the global stage. Furthermore, AiSeed reached potential investors and might fundraise more than US$5 million, and VM-FI also attracted attention of TED Talks, which might lead to development of further partnerships.
Web Summit not only allowed the startups to present themselves but also helped connect the startup communities around the world. During their stay in Lisbon, the Taiwan startups visited local startup-ecosystem-related organizations, such as Fabrica de Startups, Dengun Startup Studio, Startup Lisboa and Beta-i, as well as venture capital HP Tech Ventures and 3x Capital, to accelerate deployments in European markets and access international fundraising opportunities through business and investment matchmaking. Also, the "Taiwan Web Summit Pitch Night" was an international networking event that attracted more than 120 international venture capitalists, corporate representatives, accelerators, and media partners to interact with Taiwan's startups - which successfully helped the startups expand their horizons and strengthen their international networks. Estimated total profits may have reached more than US$10 million during the stay in Lisbon.
In the face of global competition, innovation is not only a driving force for industrial transformation but also a key indicator for outstanding firms in the international market. The Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan will continue to allocate resources to nurture startups in Taiwan for them to take root in Taiwan, go global, and become the next unicorns.
Taiwan startups at Web Summit 2022
Photo: Institute for Information Industry
