InnoVEX 2018 has officially ended at June 8 with the Pitch Contest Award Ceremony as the finale. Before the contest, the final forum was the VC insight where top tier global VCs shared their insights on the startup ecosystem. The speakers were Tom Vanhoutte, the Founder & Managing Partner of Imex.xpand; Yuma Saito, the Founder & General Director of Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support; and Anis Uzzaman, the CEO & General Partner of Fenox Ventures.

After the semifinal round on June 7, the panel of judges selected 8 startups to join the final round. The finalists are from Taiwan, US, Philippines, and China. The finalists’ categories are: Security, Enterprise Software, Consumer Tech, AI & Big Data, AR & VR, Health & Biotech, and Hardware.

The 8 finalists pitched today on the Center Stage and their innovative solutions pleasantly surprised the judges. “The competition was getting better every single year. There are great companies not only from Taiwan, but also from the Philippines, from the US, and also from China. I was really excited to see so many great companies. The level of the companies was the best so far and i feel that it was a great competition overall.” the Chief Judge, Anis Uzzaman said. The Grand Prize of USD 30,000 went to BioInspira; a materials science company from United States that harnesses biology to provide low cost and highly accurate sensors for real time detection and analysis of air chemicals in industries.

In addition to the grand prize from the organizers, there are also special prizes from the sponsors. Delta Electronics, Inc. , a global leader in power and thermal management solutions awarded the Delta Electronics, Inc. Special Award of USD 10,000 to OneWatt Solutions. OneWatt Solutions from Philippines is a non-invasive motor health monitoring startup.

There is also Nogle Limited & Maxceed Capital Group special prize. Nogle Limited is a venture studio with its key focuses on fintech, blockchain, big data, and fashion fields; it’s always devoted to building and investing in high-growth companies across Asia- Pacific. Maxceed Capital Group is multi-family office. They focus on Bio-Medical industry, opening investment of $0.5 to $1.5 million USD per venture will be made at early stage. Together, they awarded USD 10,000 to Kloudless from United States. Kloudless is an enterprise integrations solution for developer and product teams.

Finally, Taiwan's SMEA Startup Terrace Awards of USD 60,000 are given to A-Volute, Tempow, Origami Group Limited, Kloudless, and OneWatt Solutions. The winners will not only get the prizes, but also be invited to enter the Linkou Startup Terrace for 1 year with a discounted rate. This award aims to encourage startups to develop new businesses in Taiwan.

InnoVEX 2018 Pitch Contest Winners and Brief Introduction of Startups:
https://innovex.computex.biz/2018/showRwd/pitch.aspx