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Startup Global Program receives more applications than before, as the world’s startups seek to join supply chains in Asia

Published

3 years ago

04/01/2022

Kossi Adzo

To the world’s buyers, since 2015, Garage+ and its participating startups have been the highlights of Computex Taipei, the best and most effective place for business matchmaking and introduction of new technologies. Supported by the National Development Council (NDC) and the Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA), Epoch Foundation’s Garage+ Startup Global Program 13^th receives 308 applications with high technical content from 37 countries around the globe, and these startups will compete for admissions to the Startup Global Program.

In fact, since 2015, nearly 2,100 teams have sent their applications from 71 countries in the world. Up to one-thirds of the 197 selected startups have thus acquired orders, investment, and business opportunities from Taiwanese companies, and they have also established branch offices in Taiwan.

The startups in all tech hubs in the world see highly of the program. Cascoda (UK), selected in 2018, set up an office in the next year. The company’s CEO Bruno Johnson noted, “I can highly recommend Garage+ to anyone who is thinking of building their network in east Asia. Through the Startup Global Program, I have met with all the Tier-1 of potential customers and partners that are in our industry here in Taiwan as well as around half a dozen investors, and formed the investment from these top people involving the technology side.” Taiwan’s convenient transport and complete and highly-focused supply chain clusters are also reasons that many startups choose Taiwanese companies to be their manufacturing partners. Israel Koffman, founder of RunEL, an Israeli startup focusing on infrastructures for 5G mobile communications, shared the following, “Taiwan’s manufacturing capabilities are very strong. Through this program we can be in touch with a lot of infrastructure partners and potential partners, and this is the key value from my point of view.”

The Startup Global Program is scheduled to announce the latest selected startups in the second half of March. A comprehensive series of online / offline demonstrations, as well as one-on-one matchmaking events with senior company executives, will be held in the second half of May. The program shall serve as the world’s most ideal platform for startup partnerships.

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About Epoch Foundation:

Jointly founded in 1991 by 20 major companies in Taiwan, Epoch Foundation has worked with the world’s best schools such as MIT and UC Berkeley for many years. In the past 30 years, it has served as a liaison office for promoting knowledge-based economy, while seeking niches to boost economic developments in Taiwan. In 2003, to cultivate startup talents, it initiated Epoch School and Young Entrepreneurs of the Future (https://school.epoch.org.tw). Linking up startup education with global resources, Epoch Foundation has thus trained talents needed by industries, and this has helped to instill new energy into society. Till today, Epoch Foundation continues to gather substantial resources for supporting startups in this way.

In 2008, the foundation started giving consultation to startups. In 2012, it began reaching out to the global community through Garage+ (www.garageplus.asia), a startup incubator. Garage+ has since then received support from 30 major Taiwanese companies such as Chia Hsin Cement Group (Chi Hsin Chao Fu Cultural Foundation), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Delta Electronics Inc., Quanta Computer lnc., Wistron Corp., Cathay Bank, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd., and Shin Kong Group. It encourages startups to promote innovative technologies, while inviting benchmark entrepreneurs, famous investors, and new-generation entrepreneurial talents to actively take part, in order to develop a global startup community that envisions “a beautiful life for all through innovations.”