Four startup business accelerators, BE Accelerator, Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy (IAPS), SOSV-MOX, and ParkLabs Taipei, will be stationed at Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) in Taipei, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).The MOST-established TTA, through integrating Taiwan's resources in boosting startups and establishing linkage with international accelerators, aims to broaden local startups' global reach and promote international exchange and cooperation in a bid to hike its competitiveness in international startup ecosystem, MOST minister Chen Liang-gee indicated.BE Accelerator focuses on incubation in areas of medical care and biotechnology and has cooperated with large hospitals and clinics around the world to tap the Taiwan and Southeast Asia markets.Since establishment in 2013, IAPS has accelerated more than 500 startup businesses and raised venture capital of nearly US$30 million every year. Through TTA, IAPS will help link startups to the France, Japan and Southeast Asia markets.SOSV-MOX is sponsored by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm SOSV which manages global venture capital of US$400 million and has set up seven accelerators in seven cities around the world including the one at TTA. SOSV-MOX's incubation focuses on development of mobile apps, platforms and services to help startups tap emerging smartphone markets.Originating from Silicon Valley, SparkLabs Taipei focuses incubation on IoT (Internet of Things), AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning, blockchain, digital medical care and agricultural technology. For a selected startup business, SparkLabs Taipei makes investment of US$40,000 for a stake of up to 6%.A total of 52 startups (29 from Taiwan and 23 from other countries) will be stationed at TTA by the end of September 2018 and MOST hopes that the number can increase to 100 by the end of the year. Accelerators will provide business startup courses, counseling services, introduction of venture capital investment for qualified startups.

Wonders Information, a major smart city service provider in Shanghai, China, is aggressively utilizing such newly emerging technologies as cloud computing, big data, IoT, and mobile Internet to work out comprehensive smart city solutions, according to company chairman and president Shi Yibing.Shi told Digitimes in a recent interview that since its inception in 1995, Wonders Information has made it a management philosophy to better human lives with informatization, with its business transformation driven by innovations. Over the past 23 years, the company has amassed abundant experiences in various industries and developed prominent advantages in industry software and services, including many cloud services associated with smart city solutions.Through its medical healthcare cloud platform, for instance, Wonders has served around 600 million people in China, having established a solid foundation for medical big data. Its healthcare cloud platform has established connections with hundreds of public hospitals and medical service institutes, and has processed more than 20PB of data.Shi said that through healthcare IoT devices deployed at communities by his company's medical healthcare cloud platform, residents can conduct physical checkups on their own, such as checking their blood sugar and blood pressure. The ensuing data can be transmitted to the cloud platform via IoT devices, thus facilitating connections between residents and contracted physicians. So far, Wonders healthcare cloud has extended services to a total of 241 community healthcare units in all the 16 administrative districts in Shanghai.Citizen cloudThe company's citizen cloud is a one-stop public service platform for citizen users registered with real names, built with cloud computing and mobile Internet technologies. With an open service architecture, the platform has developed a brand-new service ecosystem integrating government services and social services, able to handle real-name ID verifications, online-to-offline services, and multi-end accesses, among others.As of the end of August 2018, the company's Shanghai citizen cloud has recorded 9.2 million registered users, providing 120 services to citizens through 34 connected administrative service units spread in all the districts of Shanghai. The Shanghai citizen cloud will release its 6.0 version in late September, allowing individual citizens and enterprises to get administration services through mobile Internet, which will be as convenient for them as making online purchases. The citizen cloud service has been well recognized by many other governments of all levels and citizens in China, according to Shi.In terms of medical AI applications, Wonders will move to further develop smart mobile medical care, new pharmaceuticals and new medical insurance, medical big data applications, and health management.Wonders will also step up big data applications to smart city security, smart transportation, smart transportation and smart market monitoring fields while also deepening the establishment and operation of enterprise clouds to optimize business environments, according to Shi.Reputable accreditationsFurthermore, the company will continue to work out precision core business systems in various industries in smart cities while applying those solutions well received in the coastal areas to other provinces, such as those for medical care, administrative services, and market monitoring, among others.The company has many highly reliable, safe and useful cloud services available for use on a rental basis. It has won the IDC cloud service license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the public cloud computing capability compliance certificate from the Information Technology Service Sub-association of Chinese Electronics Standardization, and passed the cloud host reliability and safety accreditations by the Open Data Center Alliance, Shi disclosed.Shi stressed that on the basis of its grand smart city platform, Wonders will also expand cooperation with ecosystem partners of different industries to jointly develop new products and new business models and cultivate unicorns in the fields of citizen cloud, healthcare cloud, pharmaceutical cloud, financial insurance cloud, and more.Wonders Information chairman Shi YibingPhoto: Company

Successfully starting his own business twice, Gwong Lee, managing director, Translink Capital, sold his second firm for a high price 15 months after its establishment and he was named one of Silicon Valley's top-10 most important persons of the year. Afterwards, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou invited Lee to serve as chairman of CyberTAN, a Foxconn subsidiary, and guide Foxconn Technology Group's investment deals. Drawing on his entrepreneurship experiences, Lee offers some thoughts and advice for Taiwan startups.Without a market, even a strong startup team is uselessTranslink Capital mainly invests in US-based startups during Series A and Series B rounds and helps them build partnerships with leading Asian high-tech firms. Lee pointed out as many Taiwan-based firms are looking to transform themselves in hopes of spurring further growth and Silicon Valley has a host of startups that can inspire large enterprises with ideas for new business models, they can join forces. Translink Capital currently works with Taiwan-based firms including Foxconn, Quanta, Inventec and UMC.When evaluating whether a startup is worth investing in, Lee mainly considers three aspects: the market, the product and the leader. Among them, the market is the most critical factor. Without a market, even a strong startup team has no use. In 1987, Lee started his first business, Digicom Systems, specializing in point-to-point communication by integrating digital signal processing chips in products to replace traditional devices. Digicom Systems was an instant hit and got OEM orders from AT&T in its second year of operation. In the five years from 1988 to 1993, AT&T remained the biggest customer contributing to more than half of Digicom Systems' revenue. Still new at entrepreneurship at that time, Lee thought technology was the key to his success and customers would automatically come to him if he had the technology they were after. Paying no attention to market needs, he made no customer visit at all in six years. In retrospect, Lee regrets not making efforts to strength customer relationships and understand market needs as well as customer plans. If he had done so, Digicom Systems might have had more opportunities. Fortunately, Digicom Systems was acquired by Singapore-based Creative Labs in 1994, which turned out to be a happy ending.When starting his second business, TransMedia, in 1997, Lee was well aware of customer needs and TransMedia could develop products in as short as 15 months and began proof-of-concept validation with customers. Cisco Systems then acquired TransMedia for US$500 million. 3Com and Nortel were among those that also bid for TransMedia at the time. Lee suggests that startups select buyers not just based on the offer price but should also consider if they share a common business philosophy and comparable professional capabilities, which will sustain their future development together or else there may be compatibility problems after the merger.Whether a startup has a right product is the second consideration in investment decision-making. A startup team must find the right people to make the product or find a mentor to provide guidance. Many startups can design a good product but don't know the first thing about hardware or system so they can only outsource product manufacturing. However, it can be a challenge to manage OEM and control product quality, indicated Lee.The third factor is the team and the leader. Lee places importance on three leadership qualities: pioneering spirit, persistence and focus. In particular, he said many entrepreneurs are full of ideas and want to do a lot of things. Without focus, they have too much on their plate and end up achieving nothing due to limited resources. They put out too many products but have no one in charge of promoting them. The results are certainly unsatisfactory. As such, it is important to have focus.Applications combining hardware, software and cloud are suitable for Taiwan startupsThe investment deals that Lee is currently overseeing at Translink Capital center on Industry 4.0, IoT, AI, machine learning, AR/VR and industrial applications. In general, he favors startups that already have customers. A startup pitch with only a few presentation slides or prototypes will unlikely secure any funding.Half of the firms that Translink Capital has a stake in also receive funding from corporate venture capital of Translink Capital's partners. They provide different perspectives that complement the investment deals made by corporate venture capital of Translink Capital's partners, which may sometimes be too focused on certain areas to have an overview.With respect to the startup ideas for Taiwan, Lee suggests the combination of hardware, software and cloud. The omnipresent Internet has been around for two decades but Taiwan has yet to foster any outstanding Internet companies with the only exception being PChome. Most software engineers work for the semiconductor industry, resulting in a poorly developed software industry. As such, now for active startup developments, Lee advises Taiwan startups make efforts toward applications combining hardware, software and cloud.It is never easy to start a business. One of Lee's friends has extensive experiences in funding high-tech firms. The friend has invested in HP, Intel and Apple and received handsome return but has also engaged in 50 angel investment deals that all failed. Although Lee rarely does angel investing, he will join the game in Pre-A round funding if he sees a team with very good potential. Whether an angel investment deal can succeed hinges on the angel investor's experience and connection. Even if the angel investor is not funding a business in his own field of expertise, his business know-how, such as management of cash flow, logistics, product R&D and talent recruitment, can still apply to different industries.As a final piece of advice, Lee emphasizes that startups must have a clear go-to-market strategy, including sales channels, marketing and pricing plans, as well as how to build the visibility of the startup in the marketplace. Only one out of 10 startups receiving angel investment gets to proceed to Series A funding. Whether you end up being the one or among the remaining nine depends on how well prepared you are.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Gwong Lee, managing director of Translink CapitalPhoto: Joseph Tsai, Digitimes, May 2018

By combining Israel's innovation dynamics and Taiwan's IT manufacturing infrastructure, a brand new supply chain and cooperation paradigm could be created in the new era of autonomous driving. To this end, at the "Taiwan+Israel Hi-Tech Forum," which was jointly organized in late August by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), three companies from Israel, Mobileye, Check Point and Karamba Security, shared the latest development trends in AI, autonomous driving, and security technologies with an audience from the local tech industries.James Huang, chairman of Taiwan External Trade Development Council, said in his opening remarks that Israel is a world-renowned nation of startups, while Taiwan has a complete ecosystem covering R&D, design and manufacturing. The combination and complementation of their advantages will open up unlimited possibilities in the latest self-driving sector. In particular, after leading a delegation to visit Israel this May, Huang said he was deeply impressed by its innovation strength, which prompted the arrangement of this forum, which marked an important milestone for the cooperation between Taiwan and Israel in the high-tech industry. TAITRA will also work to enable cooperation and exchanges between the two sides and promote more business opportunities in the future.Mobileye's self-driving development strategyFounded in 1999 and acquired by Intel in 2017, Mobileye is an iconic high-tech company in Israel and a leader in the ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) market. Rosana Su, general manager of Mobileye (Shanghai), said that ever since the company's establishment, it has been committed to the development of monocular-based computer vision processing technology. Until now, there are over 27 million Mobileye-equipped vehicles worldwide, and 13 automakers working with Mobileye to enable autonomous driving.For the development of self-driving, Mobileye's strategy consists of three major parts: leveraging ADAS technology as building blocks, combining with low-cost camera-centric sensing technology to achieve economic scalability, and formalizing safety to ensure safety.According to Su, in addition to camera-centric sensing technology, crowd-sourced mapping and semantic driving policy are two important pillars to establish a responsibility-sensitive security model, in a bid to meet consumers' higher safety demands for autonomous driving.In terms of roadscape recognition, the advantage of camera sensing technology is that it can provide rich information. However, due to weather conditions or other factors, its field of vision may be affected. Also, localization is required because traffic signs vary from country to country. These are all the challenges that need to be overcome. Therefore, other aided information from LiDAR, ladar, and maps are required in order to fully grasp the traffic conditions.Among them, HD maps play an important role. Mobileye's approach is to use its unique, low-cost REM (Road Experience Management) solution to collect landmark information from vehicles equipped with its ADAS, upload it to the cloud, and work with map operators around the world to quickly update the HD map. This crowd-sourcing method, of course, requires accurate collection of extensive data. Currently, Mobileye has partnered with Nissan, Volkswagen and General Motors on this regard.After combining sensing and map information, the most important part of self-driving is how to develop the right driving policy. Mobileye is currently working with the US Department of Transportation to analyze data of past fatal traffic accidents as a reference and establish guidelines for driving policy.Statistics show that human error is the cause of most road accidents. By making use of ADAS to provide early warning, 90% of car collisions can be avoided. Mobileye now provides various ADAS solutions for different kinds of fleet. In addition to working with car makers, products for the after-service market are also available.She stressed that the ultimate goal of developing self-driving cars is to reduce accidents, not to pursue high technology for technology's sake. Considering technology maturity and cost factors, this will be a gradual evolution process. Therefore, Mobileye will start from ADAS and slowly add more features in order to achieve the L5 self-driving goal in the long run.Security of connected devices enhanced by innovative technologyTony Jarvis, chief strategist for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at Check Point Software Technologies, said that AI is progressing rapidly and has been widely adopted by industries. According to statistics, nearly 50% of companies have a defined AI strategy. In fact, AI has undergone long-term development. The recent rapid progress is mainly due to the reduction of storage costs, the improvement of computing power, and the maturity of mathematical algorithms, so that enormous amounts of data can be stored and analyzed.However, AI is double-edged for cybersecurity. On the one hand, hacking methods keep evolving, with AI-based malware emerging and developing rapidly. On the other hand, proper use of AI technology can provide further security protection.A good AI security solution requires a large amount of data, combined with AI expertise and domain-specific expertise. But at present the key problems with cybersecurity AI is that both data and expertise are not enough.Check Point, which specializes in IT security technology, is actively developing AI-related technologies to improve cybersecurity. The company has established three AI security mechanisms, including Campaign Hunting (predictive threat intelligence), Huntress (which uncovers malicious executables), and CADET (context-aware detection). After testing, they can actually improve the protection rate and reduce the false positives.He stressed that after the era of mobile and cloud, emerging technologies such as blockchain, Internet of Things, and AI will be the mainstream in the future. The importance of cybersecurity technology will become more prominent. Enterprises must grasp this trend and dare to invest in order to maintain their competitive advantages.Karamba tackles growing risk of cyberattacksFounded in 2016, Karamba Security, with its unique security technology for connected cars, has raised a second round of US$27 million in just two years and cooperated with leading companies, including Denso, QNX, Honeywell, and Micro.Amir Einav, VP of Marketing at Karamba, noted that 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and DSRC (dedicated short range communications) have become chinks in the armor during security attacks. In addition, with the increasing number of electronic systems in the car, the size of the software code is getting larger and larger, so they are inherently vulnerable. For example, in May of this year, Keen Lab found 14 vulnerabilities in BMW car models, and over the past three years, the ECU (engine control unit) has become a new target for security attacks.The current architecture of the connected car is a set of IoT devices, and Karamba aims to become the unique cybersecurity enabler in IoT and automotive, in an effort to enhance the security of in-vehicle communication and bring safety to autonomous cars. Its technology includes runtime authentication and runtime integrity. The concept is to protect the memory of the device from any foreign code, so that the device can avoid the attacks of malware by only performing the specific functions that the system defines.He emphasized that the patent-pending security technology has negligible performance impact to the cars, and it can realize self-protecting SoC/ECU by using new encryption methods and message level encryption technologies. It's very important for ECU devices with limited resources. Karamba's "built-in security" concept can effectively prevent attacks, reduce operational costs, and provide automotive-grade solutions.James Huang, chairman of Taiwan External Trade Development Council, speaks at the Taiwan+Israel Hi-Tech ForumPhoto: Digitimes staff, August 2018The Taiwan+Israel Hi-Tech Forum attracts a large audience from Taiwan's IT sectors.Photo: Digitimes staff, August 2018

Singapore-based tech startup Tuple Technologies has successfully applied its AI-based facial recognition technology to create brand-new logistics of unmanned store, allowing many consumers to simultaneously enter the store but leave one by one after settling accounts.Tuple's chief marketing officer and AI system team leader Santhosh Nagaiah said that to access unmanned stores, consumers must first download a specific app, take a selfie of their facial features and have their credit cards linked for online payment.Consumers pick their commodities - all of which carry FRID (frequency radio ID) labels - and then pass through face recognition cameras and FRID sensor gateways. The system can automatically identify the commodities they purchase and the cloud backend will automatically charge their purchases from their credit cards, according to Nagaiah.Besides the face recognition service, Tuple also applies AI technologies for big data analysis, social networking management, enterprise marketing, logistics control, market prediction, smart retail, and robot dialogues, according to the firm's CEO Raymond Lim.Lim said that Tuple now offers internal data analysis mainly for the banking, insurance, and logistics sectors, and its sub-brand Frolic Innovation provides virtual platforms to support smart retail sales and will incorporate blockchain technology to break through international and foreign exchanges hurdles.As to social networking management, SP Lim, the firm's manager in charge of the business, said that Tuple's AI system can collect data concerning users and their living habits and then provide useful information to better cater to user needs. For instance, users usually tend to source information concerning hotels and car rental service at 8:00pm-9:00 pm after dinner, and Tuple will offer more related information on social networks.

Taiwan tech startup FootPrintKu (FPK) has newly released an AI-based EDA cloud management platform seeking to build universal standard design specs for electronics parts by leveraging intelligent automation and digitization services as well as innovative EDA library technologies.FPK co-founder YC Hwang said that the new platform can accelerate the advancement of the EDA industry, helping IT and semiconductor players develop electronics design and production process, upgrade electronic components data management and promote common standards for electronic parts and components.Hwang disclosed that FPK has secured a preemptive presence in the EDA and cloud service platform space, with Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturers Company (TSMC) among its target customers. The company is also actively seeking to work with leading EMS and ODM service providers such as Foxconn, Quanta Computer and Compal Electronics, according to Hwang.Along with the increasing complexity of process technologies and electronic components designs, EDA has become the core of electronics technologies, not only thoroughly revamping electronic design systems but also bringing unprecedented developments for the semiconductor industry, Hwang indicated.But the lack of common standards has made the establishment of local electronics parts and components databases a costly and time-consuming job, posing a great challenge for makers in the face of increasingly short product life cycles, he continued.To counter, Hwang revealed, FPK announced at the Design Automation Conference held in late June 2018 the first cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) platform allowing design teams to launch products faster and more easily by utilizing their automation intelligence engines.At the conference, the company also launched FPK Studio to serve design engineers. Users can easily upload electronic parts requests to the FPK Studio, and the system will work out PCB footprints, schematic symbols and 3D models needed by the users within 24 hours and compatible with major EDA software tools.Another new product FPK Vault, designed to meet the needs of librarians, allows users to securely store, preview, edit and search their design library from anywhere using advanced search parameters. All files are kept in the cloud, and file changes and updates are kept current and accurate through version control, with no additional tools or licenses required.FootPrintKu founder YC Hwang (second left)Photo: Monica Chen, Digitimes, September 2018

Having started three businesses, two of which successfully went public, founder of Vivo Capital Frank Kung set foot in the biotech sector in the 1970s. Thanks to Kung's decades of experiences in investing in biotech firms in the US and Greater China, Vivo Capital has made itself the largest biotech venture capital fund in Chinese communities worldwide, managing over US$1.7 billion in capital including the Taiwan Silicon Valley Technology Fund. Furthermore, Kung often attends the Taiwanese government's Bio Taiwan Committee meetings and offers advice for the development of Taiwan's biotech industry.Know the difference between healthcare products and consumer productsAccording to Kung, biotech products include healthcare products and consumer products. Investors must have a clear understanding on the difference between the two to avoid making blind bets. Many investors don't have the slightest idea about the nature of business of the biotech firm they invest in. They are merely betting on the assumption that it will be acquired by a big enterprise later on. Such wishful thinking can be problematic. A major difference between healthcare products and consumer products is the former have to undergo a series of tests and obtain approval from government authorities, such USFDA or Taiwan FDA, in order to go to market while the latter, such as dietary supplements and facial masks, have to overcome challenges in marketing and product differentiation. Both the investors and the entrepreneur need to have a clear objective as to whether the startup they are funding or founding is selling a product or technology. If it is selling a product, they must know whether it is a healthcare product or consumer product. Only by having a clear picture can investors further assess the potential and market value of the startup.In talking about healthcare products, Kung pointed out Taiwan's current conditions are rather unfavorable for startups endeavoring on healthcare product development. There are three elements to startup success - technology, talent and capital. Taiwan must be able to eliminate obstacles with respect to these three elements in order to foster a flourishing biotech industry. First of all, in terms of technology, Taiwan has very few firms specializing in making innovative healthcare products. Many pharmaceutical firms only produce generic drugs or new forms of old drugs. Strictly speaking, they are not working on biotechnology applications, let alone making innovations. As such, for a Taiwan biotech startup to succeed, it must have unique technology to be able to establish market presence.With respect to talent, Taiwan lacks the human resources to develop healthcare products. In fact, Taiwan has plenty of professionals doing medical research but few of them have the capability to commercialize research results. Rather than recruiting medical scientists from abroad to do product research, Taiwan should seek specialists in commercializing healthcare products. This will be more helpful in pushing the development of Taiwan's biotech industry, suggested Kung.As to capital, it is not easy for biotech startups to obtain funding in Taiwan. Taiwan's venture capital funds mostly invest in mature companies and impose more stringent requirements on startups. Furthermore, having accumulated more than a decade of experiences in funding biotech businesses, investors have gained a more in-depth understanding on the industry but the capital funneled into biotech firms is still insufficient. As investors are still drawn to pour fund into firms with promising technology, Series A funding is generally not a problem. However, despite lower technological risks in Series B funding, startups face the challenge as to how to enhance their market value and find experienced professional investors to support them. What's worse is that regulatory restrictions have deterred foreign investments in Taiwan's biotech businesses. As a result, the third and fourth rounds of financing become even more challenging, which also makes investors more conservative during earlier-stage funding.The development of healthcare products is a long and risky process. It's time consuming and capital hungry. For example, it took TaiMed Biologics 10 years to have its new drug Trogarzo approved by FDA for the treatment of multidrug resistant HIV-1 infection.Taiwan should create a healthy investment climate and relax regulatory controlTake Vivo Capital for example. The biotech firms that Vivo Capital invests in mostly already have their new treatments in clinical trial with human experiment data and case studies available so they can better spur investor interests. Although there are many medical centers and medical professors leading research projects in Taiwan, without a good judge of talent, these projects mostly end up as papers in academic journals and have no chance of being assessed for their commercialization potential. Kung advises that entrepreneurs aspiring to biotech development should take some time to study market needs so that they are able to come up with the best startup idea.The supply of talent is a big challenge to biotech industry development. Although many biotech research organizations have instituted technology transfer programs, most of them are just following the trend without extensive know-how. The lack of talent specializing in commercializing healthcare products is Taiwan's greatest weakness in its endeavors to promote biotech industry development, reiterated Kung.In terms of technology, it will be a long way to go for Taiwan-based firms to develop new biotech products from scratch. It may be a better idea to bring in validated technologies from abroad. However, the basic consideration is still whether there is a favorable environment and incentive fostering biotech development. What the government can do is to relax regulatory control and create a healthy investment climate, rather than using state funding to support a few biotech firms, which can only generate short-term benefits but not sustainable long-term growth for the industry.Nevertheless, the outlook for the Taiwan biotech industry is not all bleak. Taiwan-based firms still have opportunities in consumer biotech products. For example, Fitbit took the market by surprise with its success at wearable devices for healthcare purposes. It is even leading the competition by a widening distance. If Taiwan-based firms set a goal to develop consumer biotech products, they must have innovative ideas, know the competition well and realize what it takes to penetrate into the market. They also need to overcome technological barriers so that their products can cater to consumer preferences. Kung emphasized entrepreneurs endeavoring on biotech development need to stay on top of market conditions and establish a clear market position. Only by doing so can they minimize the risks when starting a new business.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Frank Kung, founder of Vivo CapitalPhoto: Frank Kung

Co-founder of Translink Capital Jackie Yang has accumulated 21 years of experience in venture capitalism since he first set foot in the field in 1996. Having witnessed the rise and fall of Taiwan industries and changes in technologies, Yang thinks although the PC and semiconductor industries that have fueled Taiwan's economic growth are experiencing market saturation and maturity, startups still have a good chance at success if they are able to capture opportunities. He gives some pointers and suggestions to Taiwan's entrepreneurs based on his experiences in funding successful startups.Five things to focus on for startups looking to bring innovations to people's livesOver the past decade or so, venture capital funds in Silicon Valley mostly invested in startups endeavoring on innovative hardware devices. This is called the "Hard Tech" sector including network equipment, optical communication and semiconductor firms. However, these businesses have begun to face market saturation since 2000. Not a lot of startups were emerging and new companies were mostly spin-offs from large enterprises or founded by people originally working for large enterprises. Venture capital funds today mainly invest in startups that bring creative changes to people's lives, such as Uber, AirBnB and e-commerce firms. Yang offers five suggestions to Taiwan startups that wish to venture into lifestyle innovations or consumer devices.Get familiar with the local cultureLifestyle innovations have to be largely based on how local people live. For example, if you live in San Francisco, you'll know that not only is it difficult to hail a taxi on the street but it is also expensive to take one, not to mention the fact that taxi service there leaves a lot to be desired. Then, you can understand how Uber could quickly rise up in San Francisco. However, for Taiwan startups looking to work on lifestyle innovations, the local market is too small. If they target the China market instead, they need to have someone familiar with the China market to join the team and they also need to work as aggressively as young people in China to be able to compete in the China local market.Target niche market segmentsCamera drone maker DJI and action camera maker GoPro both chose to target a specific group of users. DJI focused on developing drones for professional users right from the beginning. This group of users come from all over the world and form an online community, where they engage in communication and help DJI build up a strong brand reputation. The success of GoPro is a good example demonstrating the effectiveness of word-of-mouth marketing. Among the slew of camera suppliers, GoPro was the first to make cameras for extreme sports and put the captured video footages on YouTube, which served as powerful advertising. Taiwan-based MSI, specializing in gaming PC, is another successful firm that focuses efforts on a niche segment.Creative sales approach: direct marketingOne thing GoPro and smart wristband maker Fitbit have in common is their direct approach to product sales, which is not often adopted by Taiwan-based firms. Besides GoPro and Fitbit, Xiaomi also makes use of such a creative sales strategy and actually saved a large sum of marketing costs in its early-stage expansion. In addition to selling products directly to users, Fitbit is able to achieve great success also because it chose to add network communication capability to its pedometer early in the development stage, which is a critical feature to consumer devices and enables data sharing with smartphones.Differentiating featuresThe success of Fitbit has spurred a slew of followers making smart wristbands. However, startups should not make me-too products and instead must come up with differentiating features. Despite being a follower also making smart wristbands, Misfit did a survey before they entered the market and found the biggest complaint from users is battery life, so it came up with wristbands requiring no charging, allowing it to successfully penetrate into the market.It is not easy for startups to develop differentiating technologies, especially in the case of mature industries that hold a high technological barrier. On the other hand, in the case of emerging technologies, there may be fewer people with specialized expertise to compete against but this also means it is more difficult to get help when you encounter a bottleneck. Taiwan-based startup Appier, focusing on AI technology, is among the few firms that possess its own R&D strength. It provides AI-based big data analytics to help enterprises with advertisement placement and digital marketing. Having accumulated a myriad of successful use cases, Appier generates impressive revenues, half of which are contributed by overseas clients.User base is the keyAside from consumer devices and AI-based application services, Translink Capital also invests in social media. According to Yang, as long as a social media site gains a sufficient user base, its profitability is just a matter of time and the business model is usually not a real concern. The key point is whether it can operate across borders and not be limited to a single region.The automotive industry is undergoing revolutionary changesAs a venture capitalist, Yang is often asked which industry he is currently taking an interest in. In response to the question, Yang said among traditional industries, the automotive sector is the one faced with the biggest challenges in recent years. All automakers are bracing themselves for impact. "C.A.S.E" – each of these has the power to turn the automotive industry upside down. "C" (connected) means cars, like smart wristbands and watches, must have network communication capability to become connected cars. "A" (autonomous) refers to autonomous driving backed by a multitude of sensor, software and AI technologies. "S" represents "smart city" or "sharing" which includes the innovative services, such as Uber, and even Zipcar car sharing, changing how people choose means of transportation. "E" refers to electric car, which is undergoing flourishing developments in China.Self-driving cars combined with ride sharing or car sharing services will bring radical changes to user habits. For example, consumer demand for vehicles may go down or it is more precise to say that consumers may no longer be those making car purchases. Automakers are acting prudently to cope with future changes and many of them have begun to invest in or expand into ride sharing services.Amid rapid technology advances and market changes today, not only do startups need to capture opportunities but large enterprises also sustain significant impact. When the market becomes saturated, how can large enterprises maintain growth by fostering innovations? Yang suggests that every firm should allocate at least 0.5-1% of its budget for startup investment. Startups can serve as a unit doing advanced R&D for large enterprises, especially when their internal R&D units have problem keeping up with new trends and are falling behind schedule. Samsung, wishing to take a different approach from the competition, makes active efforts to work with startups and has a well-developed policy in this respect. Among Taiwan-based businesses, Foxconn is the most aggressive in startup investments.Japan's second largest property insurance firm has recently funneled investment into Translink Capital in hopes of gaining an understanding on innovative technologies through Translink Capital. In doing so, the Japanese firm not only seeks partnership opportunities but also looks to prevent emerging FinTech services from grabbing its market share.(Editor's note: This is part of a series of interviews focusing on the problems and opportunities that Taiwan-based startups face. The interviewees are venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley and Taiwan.)Jackie Yang, co-founder of Translink CapitalPhoto: Joseph Tsai, Digitimes, May 2018

To promote precision sports, ITRI, SEMI, Chang Gung University (CGU), and National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU) have signed an agreement to jointly develop flexible hybrid electronics and to formulate a developmental blueprint for related industrial technology.Precision sport science can provide more efficient training that will boost the chances of winning in competitions, they said.The joint efforts will focus on smart wearable products that will assist the athletic community in collecting and analyzing data. This will help to identify athletes with potential and provide reference for coaches' tactical decisions. Local and global companies will work together to establish an independent flexible hybrid electronics industry in Taiwan, paving the way to tap into the enormous market for sports technology, they said.Chih-I Wu, ITRI's vice president and general director of Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories, remarked that flexible hybrid electronics make it possible to effectively attach the devices to specific areas of the body and thereby enhance the comfort level in wearing them and accuracy in measuring physiological signals. ITRI's Flexible Hybrid Electronics Precision Motion Detection System utilizes wireless transmission technology to transfer myoelectric signals from the wearer of the device to a computer, and then uses algorithms to interpret muscle strength and fatigue. Integrated knowledge in various aspects of athletic training, the results can then be used in the course of training athletes or assisting in coaches' tactical decisions. This cooperation, he said, will take advantage of ITRI's excellence in information and communications and integrate the expertise of the industrial, academic, and research communities.SEMI Taiwan president Terry Tsao stated that Taiwan has a comprehensive and highly vertical microelectronics industry supply chain and an impressive ability in integration, which yields key advantages in developing enormous business opportunities in flexible hybrid electronics. In collaboration with ITRI, FlexTech, a SEMI strategic partner for flexible hybrid electronics, on October 3 will formally establish the Taiwan FlexTech Steering Committee with the hope of assembling the academic, industrial, and research communities to jointly establish Taiwan's flexible hybrid electronics industry supply chain. Committee members will focus on smart wearables for precision athletics and fitness, assist in laying out a developmental blueprint for flexible hybrid electronics technology, and jointly promote international standards. The SEMI-FlexTech global platform will enable local and global companies to engage in greater cooperation, while the Flexible Electronics Conference and Exhibition (FLEX Taiwan) will continue to play a vital role in enhancing the technological strengths of Taiwan's flexible hybrid electronics and boosting the industry's international visibility, Tsao said.CGU president Chia Chu Pao remarked that his university has already yielded successful integration of physiological signal and biomarker sensing, with practical applications in smart clothing, cardiac mapping, and the development of ultrasonic brain drug delivery systems.NTSU indicated that developing sensors that can be used in sport contests has become an urgent topic in the development of competitive sports science in Taiwan. The sensors must be easily attached and comfortable, accurately collect the necessary training details in various sports, and comply with game rules. They could record all training and the course of competition, and then transmit data to a cloud database for analysis and real-time feedback. The team from NTSU hopes to take advantage of its participation in this project to be on the frontline in integrating the needs of coaches and athletes.In the future, the four parties will develop technology and products driven by the needs of trainers and athletes, and will focus on five topics: precision selection of potential athletes; precision training and monitoring; precision prediction of readiness; precision regulation of the competition process; and precision collection of analytical data.In the long run, the technological applications they will have developed will be extended to the textile industry to assist in the development of smart clothing technology and help the industry move into high added-value markets.ITRI, SEMI, CGU and NTSU team up for sports sciencePhoto: ITRI

Acer ITS has installed in-house-developed smart parking meters along a road section in Taipei, with operation kicking off on September 6, according to the company.The Acer subsidiary is undertaking a pilot project of smart roadside parking management commissioned by the city government.The parking meters can detect cars moving into roadside parking spaces and recognize their license plates. When cars leave, the meters will immediately transfer information on available parking spaces to a cloud computing-based platform established by Acer ITS. The information is available to users of a company-developed smartphone app.The smart meters have higher efficiency in parking management, providing real-time information on vacant parking spaces, Acer ITS indicated.The 13 smart meters recently installed in Taipei are expected to handle 5,000 times of parking a month, and the data collected by the meters can help the city government understand parking behavior in the area at different times.Acer ITS has also obtained two roadside smart parking meter projects from Tainan and Kaohsiung, both in southern Taiwan.Smart parking meters installed along a road in Taipei Photo: Acer ITS