Figure: Teams from Taiwan
November 20, 2019: In order to help Taiwan’s startups enter the European market, the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (SMEA) has led 5 teams from G Camp — Wellgen Medical, Toii Inc, MeansGood, Singular Wings Medical and 3drens —which have a high innovation and market potential to participate in one of the world’s most influential startup events, Slush. “Slush” symbolises the courage an entrepreneur needs to keep moving forward in the long, dark, freezing, stormy winter. Taiwan’s technology and innovation achievements have been recognized by the international community and this time, Taiwan’s startups will carry the torch of innovation in Slush with their extraordinary expertise in AR, AI and smart healthcare to bring new energy into Europe. What’s more, 3drens has stood out from more than 3,000 strong competitors from all over the world and became the only team from Taiwan selected for top 100 at the Slush Pitch competition, presenting its core technology and business model to 20,000 audiences including over 2,000 international angel investors, media outlets and potential partners.
International Collaboration Enhances the Visibility of Taiwan’s Innovation Power
Last year in Slush, the Taiwan x Finland Demo Day organised by the SMEA was a big success, which has promoted bilateral cooperation and created a win-win situation. This year, to build on the positive results, the SMEA again worked with Maria 01, the biggest startup hub in Northern Europe , and gained enormous support from APTG 5G Accelerator, NCTU Industrial Accelerator and globally renowned companies that will provide the winners with soft-landing programs in Taiwan or Finland, mentorship, business matching opportunities and trade show resources to help the startups access the global market.
On November 20, the SMEA and Maria 01 co-organised Taiwan x Finland Demo Day at Arcade 5 in Helsinki. Ms. Janet Chang, Representative, Taipei Representative Office in Finland, firstly expressed her gratitude to all the partners who supported the event and Maria 01’s tremendous contribution as an organizer. As technology evolves rapidly, developing internet and digital economy has become a key strategy for all countries, with startups at the forefront. Selected as one of the “super innovators” by the World Economic Forum again this year, Taiwan spares no effort in creating a global startup ecosystem. For example, Startup Terrace will provide favorable conditions and resources for startups from both sides to work together in a win-win situation.
The event featured 10 outstanding startup teams: Wellgen Medical, Toii Inc, MeansGood, 3drens, Singular Wings Medical from Taiwan and KideScience, Selko.io, Hurricane Unwinder, Toristy, Resistomap from Finland who presented their business models and products, discussed their core competencies with investors, and learned from each other. In the end, the Light Up Finland award went to Singular Wings Medical from Taiwan, whose save lives by predicting heart problems before they happen. Successfully won the favor of the European angels and judges. It will be stationed in Maria 01 for 3 months to receive one-on-one mentorship from Mr. Ville Simola, CEO of Maria 01, and soft-landing support of NewCo Helsinki; the Light Up Taiwan award was given to Finland’s Selko, whose provides pioneering automation tools and consultation services in requirements engineering brought it the opportunity to join NCTU Industrial Accelerator, enter Taiwan market and participate in InnoVEX. Additionally, Finland’s Hurricane Unwinder was selected by APTG 5G Accelerator to join its second phase program for future market development.
Figure: Taiwanese and Finnish Winners of Taiwan x Finland Demo Day
Figure: Attendees of Taiwan x Finland Demo Day
Figure: Attendees of Taiwan x Finland Demo Day
Figure: Networking session
Entrepreneurship has become a global trend and startups are essential for economic growth that brings about job opportunities and technological innovation. In addition, internationalisation is key to market success. For this reason, the SMEA has been building a startup-friendly ecosystem in recent years to connect with the international startup community and demonstrate Taiwan’s innovation capability. In the future, the SMEA and G Camp will continue to be the best friend of Taiwan startups, facilitating them to shine on the global stage, co-creating business opportunities in digital economy and fostering the growth of digital startup ecosystem with their emerging power.
BlackStorm Consulting was very honoured to be part of the team to bridge Taiwanese companies to European counterparts. We look forward to future collaborations with our partner – G Camp, Institute of Information Industry.
About G Camp
Under the direction of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, G Camp (https://web.iii.org.tw/) is organized by the Institute for Information Industry along with international incubators to provide a favorable environment for Taiwan startups. The “G” in G Camp means “Growing,” “Global,” and “Go.” Through international entrepreneurship training programs and events, G Camp aims to build an export platform that helps Taiwan startups enter the global market.
About Slush
In Slush 2015, there were over 15,000 attendees from 120 countries, including 2,300 startups, 1,100 investors and 600 journalists. Slush (https://slush.org/) aims to bring together startups, investors and media outlets and help entrepreneurs turn their businesses into industry leaders in the world. Many multinational corporations like Amazon, Google and Alibaba Group attend this event every year.
About BlackStorm Consulting
BlackStorm Consulting (http://blackstormco.asia/) is a Singapore-based boutique growth consultancy firm that specialises in corporate strategy, profit management and investment management. We scale businesses in Southeast Asia. Our clients and connections are internationally present and range from small and medium sized businesses, MNCs, to government agencies.
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