Taiwanese Startups Seek Increased Exposure at World Tech Show CES 2019
Taiwan’s government began this month lining up 40 local startups to exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s largest tech confab.
A recruitment process for Taiwan’s team is running until July 30, the commercial officer of the Taiwan Association for the United States and the CES Asia Chapter director said in mid-June.
Applicants must be able to exhibit consumer-focused products of their own brands. After submitting written applications to a panel of venture capital evaluators, startups are vetted by a panel of venture capitalists.
The chosen startups are expected to make their first appearance at the CES Taiwan pavilion, a boon to strengthening connections between the tech ecosystems of Taiwan and the United States.
At CES in January this year, Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology led 32 Taiwanese startups to exhibit.
The annual event in Las Vegas drew 4,000 exhibitors, 7,000 journalists and 1,000 speakers.
Taiwan’s ministry is planning special training sessions and marketing campaigns to increase the media exposure of the Taiwan startups.
A boot camp October 17-19 with mentors from the Silicon Valley will train the 40 Taiwanese startups to pitch for venture capital and offer each young firm one-on-one coaching. Those teams will have a chance to pitch at Meet Taipei November 12-19.
One chosen startup’s story
Liang-min Wang, head of medical company Taiwan Main Orthopedic, has been chosen twice for CES. He shared his CES experience with Business Next as an example of how event participation can help a young business.
Wang said he set out just to have a casual look around at CES in 2018. But many other exhibitors on the conference floor showed keen interest in his company. Queries came from the University of Southern California’s Medical School as well as from large German medical equipment manufacturers.
He was later invited twice to visit University of Southern California’s Medical School to discuss research and joint venture opportunities.
After meeting several international firms, Wang decided to deepen the company’s investment in the United States, which was not previously a major market.
The company, based in Taichung and founded in 2012, designs high-tech orthopedic surgery tools. The company’s Smart Surgical Glasses won the Most Innovative Product at Taiwan Health Care Expo in 2017.
The company got funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firms after an official with the ministry’s Taiwan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center helped it make connections.
〔Original :Meet Startup @ TW〕https://meet.bnext.com.tw/intl/articles/view/43223