Venture capitalists seem to play an extremely important role in this year’s InnoVEX business linking activities. According to Hardware Club managing partner Jerry Yang, the annual CES is where startups announce new products and promotions; the IFA is focused on creating orders in peak consumption seasons; Taiwan has a trusted and recognized electronics industry supply chain, and is the manufacturer for many startup products, Yang looks forward to InnoVEX developing into the best platform on which international startups and Taiwanese manufacturers could meet.
Yang believes that the success rate for high-potential startups would improve by partnering with the manufacturing industry chain. However a startup company in its early stages would need the assistance of a trusted venture capitalist to pass on related industry information to the market, so that the startup could be more easily accepted by the industry chain. Yang also encourages entrepreneurs from all over the world to seize opportunities such as the InnoVEX platform to promote themselves to the industry chain to increase the chances of obtaining their future support.
Co-founder and CEO of Silicon Valley’s Fenox Venture Capital Anis Uzzaman states that Taiwan’s ICT manufacturing capabilities are essential to the startup development process, and could accelerate the completion of prototypes and even facilitate mass production.
Asian VC Mesh Ventures partner Ben Liu, who has experience in introducing global startups to domestic ICT manufacturers, believes that by selecting high-potential startups and introducing them to major Taiwanese manufacturers, Mesh Ventures hopes to encourage seasoned manufacturers to help examine product design and component selection, and assist the startup in solving future production problems.
Both Anis Uzzaman and Ben Liu emphasize that in the current rapid development of ICT, even large companieswith R&D capabilities may not be able to keep up with changes in the trend. By linking startups with manufacturers, manufacturers could more easily grasp future production orders for stellar innovations, and could even achieve corporate innovation goals through acquisition or technology transfer.
TCA states that in order for startups, venture capitals and other ICT professionals to keep abreast of industry trends, the InnoVEX Forum has invited several well-known innovations agencies, startups and corporations, including NYC Media Lab, to share with us the latest technology trends. The audience will be able to view startup pitches at the forum. The forum agenda has been publically announced and will be officially open for registration in early May.