SparkLabs Taiwan held its 9th Demo Day, focusing on AI applications. Some participating teams have developed integrated AI agents capable of managing cross-platform marketing and communication tasks, demonstrating that AI applications are no longer confined to a single system interface. National Development Council Deputy Minister Fang-Guan Jan announced at the event that the government will expand its investment in startups, including establishing new outposts in Silicon Valley and Tokyo.
SparkLabs is a startup accelerator and venture capital fund with teams in the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia. In early 2024, SparkLabs announced that it is also one of the investors in OpenAI.
SparkLabs Taiwan co-founder and managing partner Eugene Chiu pointed out that the three main themes of this Demo Day were: foreign startups landing in Taiwan, Taiwanese startups going international, and assisting traditional industries in upgrading with AI. The core theme of the event was AI.
AiSeed Technology, founded in 2019, focuses on drone technology, has cooperated with military units, and is actively expanding into international markets.
Valtec provides multiple drone solutions, combining advanced sensors to increase fishing efficiency and reduce bycatch.
Colega AI specializes in social marketing AI agents and has offices in San Francisco and Taipei. Seasalt.ai created a customer communication management platform, supported by Taiwania Capital and Microsoft Accelerator, with offices in Seattle and Taipei.
MEandMine uses AI to promote mental health management, identifying students' mental health risks through gamified programs, improving data management efficiency.
Crave Robotics offers intelligent food vending solutions, supplying hot meals within three minutes, and has a presence in Los Angeles, aiming to leverage Taiwan's R&D and manufacturing strengths to stay competitive.
Eugene Chiu stated that SparkLabs Taiwan will invest in the teams it selects, while some accelerators may evaluate whether to invest after Demo Day. Although it is an investor, the five-member team of SparkLabs Taiwan operates like a startup and must be adaptable.
In addition to Taiwan-US cooperation, SparkLabs Taiwan has recently been actively collaborating with SparkLabs Korea to expand Taiwan-Korea startup cooperation opportunities.
In his speech, Fang-Guan Jan said that the government will significantly increase its support for the startup community in the coming years, including increasing annual investment to USD 5 billion and establishing new outposts in Silicon Valley, USA, and Tokyo, Japan.
Fang-Guan Jan emphasized that the key is to nurture more outstanding startups, allowing the world to recognize Taiwan not only as the island of AI but also as the island of startups, echoing the National Development Council's startup brand "Startup Island TAIWAN."
It is understood that the National Development Council has recently been actively assisting Taiwanese startups to explore the Japanese market and is reportedly considering cooperation with Andrew Ng's AI Fund. AiSeed Technology also revealed that it will soon start cooperating with AI Fund.
תגובות