Join
SparkLabs Taipei DemoDay 4 Gathers Over 1000 Attendees for An In-Person Event
CategoryNews
Lecture Date:
2020-11-11
REGISTRATION EVENT
HOME
News & Programs
SparkLabs Taipei DemoDay 4 Gathers Over 1000 Attendees for An In-Person Event
2020-11-11
SparkLabs Taipei DemoDay 4 Gathers
Over 1000 Attendees for An In-Person Event
Reflecting Taiwan’s Successful Policies Against COVID-19 and Growing
Startup Scene
Over 1000 Attendees for An In-Person Event
Reflecting Taiwan’s Successful Policies Against COVID-19 and Growing
Startup Scene
SparkLabs Taipei, Taiwan's premier startup accelerator, has recently concluded its fourth demo day on November 4th, 2020. Drawing over 1,000 attendees, which included prominent venture capital investors and corporate executives. SparkLabs Taipei DemoDay 4 featured eight startup teams from their latest accelerator batch showcasing the problems they are solving and the recent traction they’ve achieved.
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SparkLabs Taipei, Edgar Chiu said, “The global economy in 2020 has been greatly affected by the recent pandemic, and it has unexpectedly created a unique foothold for Taiwan’s entrepreneurs. Some of the industries covered by the startups at DemoDay 4 include telehealth, e-commerce, and 5G infrastructure, which is aligned with the recent trends of the global technology industry. In fact, many major technology companies are currently seeking strategic partnerships and investments in these industries.”
Winston Hsia, the Chief Investment Officer of CTBC Financial Holding Co., Ltd., the anchor investor in SparkLabs Taipei, said, “Given the global market conditions of 2020, investors are focused on supporting startups with a global vision and the ability to power enterprises via digital transformations.”
According to the order in which they pitched on stage, here are the eight startups that presented at SparkLabs Taipei DemoDay 4:
EMQ (FinTech)
EMQ operates a global financial settlement network that enables global businesses and individuals to access real-time, affordable, and efficient cross-border payments with a simple one-stop integration, while adhering to complex regulations and compliance standards in different markets.
Today, EMQ’s network footprint touches billions of people in over 80 key global markets throughout Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe and North America. Currently, the company is licensed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and registered as a Money Service Business in Canada. EMQ was also accepted into Taiwan’s Regulatory Sandbox by the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan. EMQ recently closed a $20M Series B Funding round to accelerate its international growth, product development, and licensing activities across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Pickupp (Smart Logistics)
Pickupp is a data driven, AI-enabled logistic platform dedicated to supporting merchants with flexible and cost-effective solutions. Its platform connects and consolidates all types of assets in the supply chain to improve logistics scalability, flexibility and cost efficiencies.
Pickupp’s customer base ranges from e-commerce, retailers, and F&B to multinational 3rd Party Logistics. It started operations in Hong Kong back in mid 2017, and expanded to Singapore and Malaysia in 2018. Starting in late 2020, Pickupp began operating in Taiwan, generating an ARR of over US$15mm, and is looking to quickly scale up its Taiwan’s business and expand into other Southeast Asian markets.
OakMega (MarTech / CRM / SaaS)
OakMega provides omnichannel instant messaging CRM solutions for businesses, conquering the last mile of communication with customers. OakMega empowers large enterprises to integrate IM platforms with Salesforce and HubSpot, building an efficient way to acquire, analyze, and engage with customers.
Founded in 2019, OakMega has over 150 clients in Taiwan and Japan from various industries, including gaming, medical, real estate, retail & FMCG, KOLs, etc. OakMega is rapidly scaling in APAC and further expanding into the US and European Markets.
Kneron (AI / IC Design)
Kneron is a leading provider of edge AI solutions. Established in San Diego in 2015, it is dedicated to the design and development of integrated software and hardware edge AI solutions for AIoT, smart homes, smart surveillance, security, mobile devices, robotics, and industrial control.
Kneron’s mission is to enable and empower edge AI to be everywhere. Kneron primarily solves three main problems for smart devices running AI — security, energy and cost. Kneron's solutions are reconfigurable, increasing the efficiency of processing image and audio AI models. Kneron was named to the 2020 CB Insights AI 100 list and recently raised an additional $40M to bring its total Series A funding round to $73M.
Tresl (E-Commerce Analytics)
Tresl makes data-driven marketing easy. Founded by two LinkedIn data scientists, its hero product, Segments Analytics is an ecommerce intelligence platform that gives brands access to the same analytics tools used by large enterprises at a fraction of the cost.
With their 1-click segmentations, actionable recommendations, and marketing integrations, Tresl provides step-by-step marketing optimizations across complex digital customer journeys to help brands take effective steps to monetize their data. Its customers include ILIA Beauty, BJJ Fanatics, Vejo, and more.
Aegis Custody (FinTech / Blockchain)
Aegis Custody is a blockchain financial services company specializing in providing secure and user-friendly solutions for trading, managing and protecting digital assets for financial institutions and enterprise clients.
The company's services cover the issuance, circulation and custody of digital assets, including over-the-counter (OTC), cryptocurrency funds, asset management and supply chain finance services. In 2020, Aegis successfully launched and sold its first supply-chain AR financing product (a digital beneficiary interest certification) in partnership with Taiwan’s biggest factoring company. Aegis Custody has a global market reach, holding both Hong Kong trust license and US trust license.
TMYTEK (5G Infrastructure)
TMYTEK is a mmWave total solution provider dedicated to solving all the mmWave challenges in the 5G/B5G era. TMYTEK builds mmWave phased arrays for 5G and satellite markets with advanced Antenna-in-Package (AiP) technology, with ORAN Alliance listing TMYTEK as an alliance contributor. Its XBeam resolves the slow OTA testing issue in mass production lines to verify the billions of mmWave modules, smartphones, and base stations before shipping. TMYTEK also builds mmWave tools to make R&D more productive.
PenguinSmart (AI / Digital Healthcare)
PenguinSmart is enabling intelligent, individualized rehab therapy for all. Founded by Harvard & MIT alumni, their team combines the latest data sciences with expert insights to empower caregivers to become a key part of the rehab journey. Their solutions not only increase the efficacy of rehab therapy, but they also allow therapists to oversee 8x as many patients while providing long-term care. PenguinSmart was named one of the “Top 10 Disruptive Parenting Companies of 2017” by Disruptor Daily.
-
Aside from the startup pitches, DemoDay 4 organized two fireside chats with themes focused on adapting to uncertainties and overcoming challenges, a fitting topic given the circumstances of 2020. A majority of the panelists are international entrepreneurs that have navigated their companies through adversity and lead their companies towards an exit, many of which have recently returned to Taiwan. Due to the global crisis and Taiwan’s successful response to the pandemic, Taiwan has seen an influx of expatriates returning home.
The first panel titled “From MVP to PMF: Adapting to Uncertainty” included Jameson Hsu, CEO of Kinetik; Dwayne Sye, Co-Founder and former Chief Information Officer of Cvent; and Chris Wang, Co-Founder of Playdom. The second panel, “Entrepreneurial Leaders: Rising to the Challenge,” featured Laura Huang, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School; Winnie Lee, Co-Founder and COO of Appier; and Vivian Chiang, Co-Founder of Orbit Baby. A few key takeaways these speakers gave to Taiwanese founders in the audience was to build and iterate products quickly, to focus on getting to market, and to be unafraid to pivot when necessary.
Edgar Chiu credits Taiwan’s outstanding success fighting the pandemic as the reason for Taiwan to be one of the few places in the world where an offline event with over 1000 attendees like DemoDay 4 could take place. In fact, because the technology supply chain in Taiwan has not been largely affected by the pandemic, Taiwan has become one of the most stable global import and export supply partners. In President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent National Day address, she mentions how Taiwan has become one of the few countries in the world with a positive economic growth, seeing a massive reshoring of Taiwanese companies, tens of billions of US dollars being repatriated, and many foreign companies and multinational enterprises increasing their investments in Taiwan. This is a great opportunity for Taiwan’s startup ecosystem as Taiwan positions itself to become a hub for international capital, talent, and digital technology.
SparkLabs Taipei DemoDay 4 is a testament to the thriving and robust startup ecosystem in Taiwan. As Taiwan’s premier startup accelerator, SparkLabs Taipei helps both Taiwanese startups scale internationally and foreign startups enter the Taiwanese market. Furthermore, with their growing startup portfolio, they cooperate with large enterprises and multinational companies to source technology talent and identify potential startup strategic investments and acquisitions.
Established just two years ago, SparkLabs Taipei has accelerated four cohorts and invested in a total of 26 startups, 22 of which are Taiwanese startups. SparkLabs Taipei alumni have a 80% follow-on funding rate with follow-on investors including Taiwan’s National Development Fund, Japan’s NEC Capital Solutions, and Hive Ventures.
About SparkLabs Taipei:
SparkLabs Taipei is part of the SparkLabs Group, a network of startup accelerators and venture capital funds that has invested in over 280 companies across six continents. Established in 2018, SparkLabs Taipei offers a strategically designed accelerator program to help founders grow and scale their startups into world-class businesses.
Founded by entrepreneur Edgar Chiu, SparkLabs Taipei runs a 3-month accelerator program for the seed to early-stage startups, investing in every startup that enters its program. Each team enjoys free office space, weekly training sessions, and are matched with three to six global mentors. The program is offered twice a year with the mission is to help Taiwanese startups expand globally, and more specifically to secure the next round of funding.
SparkLabs Taipei’s investment areas include the internet of things, artificial intelligence, fintech, digital healthcare, and other verticals. They focus on data-driven companies with innovative and disruptive business models.
SparkLabs Taipei Media Contact
Brian Chen | +886-905-620-905 | brian@sparklabstaipei.com
Edgar Chiu | +886-910-876-898 | edgar@sparklabstaipei.com
新創加速器 SparkLabs Taipei 於 11 月 4 號下午在台北國際會議中心舉行第四屆 DemoDay，共 8 組新創團隊登台向超過 1,000 位投資人與合作夥伴展現創業主題。SparkLabs Taipei 管理合夥人邱彥錡表示：「2020 全球經濟遭受疫情重創，意外為台灣創業家打造獨一無二的立足點。本屆團隊創業主題緊扣著遠距、電商、5G製造幾個重心，切中當前全球科技發展趨勢，成為科技大廠爭取合作、甚至進一步投資的對象。」SparkLabs Taipei 之主要機構投資人，中國信託金融控股公司投資事業執行長謝載祥也表示：「在今年的國際情勢之下，投資人將更注重新創團隊海外佈局的眼光、以及幫助企業數位轉型的能力。」
今日活動論壇講者陣容堅強，包含 Playdom 共同創辦人 Chris Wang、Cvent 共同創辦人 Dwayne Sye、Kinetik 執行長 Jameson Hsu，哈佛商學院企管教授 Laura Huang 、Orbit Baby 共同創辦人 Vivian Chiang、Appier 共同創辦人暨營運長 Winnie Lee，其中包含數位近期回台定居的國際創業家。邱彥錡表示，今年有許多在海外成功的創業者因為疫情回台居住，台灣提供相對安全穩定的環境讓創業者發展。SparkLabs Taipei 藉此連結許多具備國際創業經驗的新創導師，促進多國交流、組成多元背景團隊，為台灣新創登上世界舞台持續努力。
今日 SparkLabs Taipei 第四屆 8 組團隊按照登台次序分別為：
EMQ ( FinTech )
EMQ 透過簡單的一站式託管服務為企業處理跨境小額匯款，為客戶提供更即時、更透明、成本更低的跨境結算解決方案，幫助客戶遵守不同市場的複雜金融法規和監管標準。 EMQ 靈活的網絡基礎架構能解決任何跨境資金流動問題，提供電子商務、商戶結算、採購、匯款、保險、貿易結算和薪資匯款等廣泛服務。目前 EMQ 的網絡遍及全球 80 多個主要市場，覆蓋數十億人口，在香港、新加坡、印尼和加拿大持有金融服務商的執照，並已獲准進入台灣金管會的金融監理沙盒。
Pickupp ( Smart Logistics)
Pickupp 是人工智慧物流平台系統，利用精密數據分析和優化技術提高運送乘載量，因而能提供彈性的高效物流解决方案同時降低費用，減少電商和零售業者耗費在物流上的成本。Pickupp 於 2017 年中在香港開始營運，隔年擴展到新加坡與馬來西亞，並於今年中開始在台灣營運，公司年度經常性收益超過美金 1,500 萬元，服務客戶包含電商、零售、餐飲連鎖通路以及跨國物流企業，近期將迅速擴大台灣業務，並擴展其他東南亞市場。
OakMega ( MarTech / CRM / SaaS)
OakMega 協助企業客戶透過 LINE, Telegram 等通訊軟體打造 CRM 解決方案。企業不需自行架設 CRM 系統就能與顧客建立即時、高互動的關係，並整合 Salesforce、HubSpot 等大型 CRM 服務，協助大型企業客戶導入通訊軟體 CRM，打造行銷溝通的最後一哩路。 OakMega 的顧客體驗獲得極優良的回饋，企業客戶採用其服務後，平均帳號追蹤數、活躍粉絲數皆提升為3倍，顧客終身價值增長5成。成立一年即累積服務超過 150 個台灣和日本品牌，並預計於 2021 年加速拓展亞太與歐美市場。
Kneron 耐能智慧 ( AI / IC Design )
耐能智慧為「終端人工智慧」解決方案的領導廠商，運用自行研發的 AI 晶片與 AI 模型，讓人工智慧深入擴展到各種終端設備。透過耐能軟硬體整合的 AI 解決方案，終端裝置在離線環境下也能獨立運行深度學習網路，兼顧低成本、超低功耗、資訊安全三大優勢，能滿足自動駕駛、智能家電、影像監控或各式 AIoT 產品的需求。耐能近期延攬前 Nvidia 台灣業務行銷副總羅立智成為新任耐能策略長，將為耐能開拓更大市場。
Tresl ( Ecommerce Analytics)
Tresl 由兩位前 LinkedIn 資料科學家在 2018 年於矽谷成立，希望「用數據讓數位行銷更簡單」。Tresl 的主力產品「Segments Analytics」是建立於 Shopify 的智能電商數據平台，讓品牌行銷人員能一鍵分眾，輕鬆做到精準行銷，不但有效提升獲客成效、回購率、轉換率，客戶僅需 1% 的成本就能獲得相當於一個數據科學家團隊的運算與分析能力。Tresl 目前服務的品牌包括 SodaStream, ILIA Beauty, BJJ Fanatics 等。
Aegis Custody ( FinTech / Blockchain )
Aegis Custody 透過區塊鏈平台推出供應鏈固定收益產品，協助供應鏈上的中小型廠商將應收帳款數位憑證化，為供應商增加資產流動性、降低資金壓力，同時提供投資人優質的數位投資商品選擇。Aegis已取得香港信託牌照與美國銀行局的核可，有資格提供保管、信託、資產管理與債券發行等金融服務。Aegis 往來客戶包含多家 Amazon 旗下供應商、台灣電子企業與傳統產業等；Aegis 之供應鏈應收帳款固定收益產品的投資人包括美國家族企業辦公室、台灣上市櫃公司和高淨值資產客戶。
TMYTEK 稜研科技 (5G Infrastructure)
TMY 稜研科技為 5G 的毫米波 (mmWave) 提供了前沿解決方案。核心技術為 5G/ B5G 的毫米波前端及軟硬體整合，TMY 用最先進的天線封裝 (AiP, Antenna-in-Package) 技術打造 5G 及低軌道衛星 (LEO) 所需的陣列天線及主被動元件。TMY 具備 O-RAN RU 架構所需射頻前端技術並已加入 ORAN 聯盟。主要產品包含：領先業界的高速且低成本毫米波 OTA 產測方案「XBeam」、為 R&D 開發用市場打造的波束成形器「BBox」、以及寬頻上下變頻器「UD Box」，皆已獲全球頂尖研究所、多間財富世界 500 強企業積極詢問並採用。
PenguinSmart 啟兒寶 ( AI / Digital Healthcare)
PenguinSmart 是智慧型客製化早療復健服務，由麻省理工與哈佛校友共同創辦。PenguinSmart 結合醫師專業與機器學習，賦能家屬成為復健的重要參與者，讓患者能透過網路進行遠端復健。PenguinSmart 的解決方案讓每位專業治療師能服務的患者人數增為 8 倍以上，有效彌補全球治療師嚴重不足的缺口，目前已與多家專業醫療與教育單位合作服務中國大陸及海外華人家庭，觸及超過 5 百萬人次。PenguinSmart 在 2017 年由美國顛覆者日報評為全球育兒類十大顛覆型企業。
疫情凸顯台灣戰略地位 「遠距」與「製造」為本屆團隊兩大趨勢
邱彥錡提到，今年因為台灣抗疫表現突出，成為世界科技供應鏈中唯一沒有停工的地方，在國際上扮演了最穩定的進出口供應夥伴。「於是 2020 年湧進大量需求，對台灣企業而言是挑戰也是機會；我們的製造業以往著重在降低成本，現在則亟需提高效率，比起任何時刻都需要產線智慧化、數位化。」他並以台灣熱門話題 5G 為例：「5G 是全球的產業大趨勢，但台灣製造 5G 設備的產能、5G 應用的基礎建設都還不健全；所以 SparkLabs 尤其關心新創團隊是否可以抓住時勢，協助整體產業向上發展。」
邱彥錡表示，本屆 SparkLabs Taipei 團隊的創業主題囊括重要的兩個產業大趨勢「遠距」和「製造」，他說：「台灣雖受疫情影響相對輕微，但全世界產業都朝向數位化、遠距、智慧化板塊移動，第四屆團隊從 PenguinSmart 的遠距醫療開始，進入到電商：Tresl 的行銷分析、EMQ 的跨境匯款、Pickupp 的商品物流、OakMega 的客服溝通，都是在後疫情時代看好的發展趨勢。」
另外由於疫情關係，通訊設備與物聯網應用的資料傳輸突顯離網運算的新議題。邱彥錡表示：「為了資訊安全，許多廠商想要享受 AI 帶來的高效率，同時希望高度掌握資料儲存與運算的安全性。耐能智慧提供的終端 AI 解決方案能讓 AI 離網運算，解決資安疑慮。另外 5G 早已成為台灣的熱門話題好一段時間，TMY 提供的解決方案，正能為實力堅強的台灣科技製造業提供生產 5G 產品的實驗環境。而 Aegis Custody 則運用科技，為製造業的供應鏈金融提供了更進步有效率的選項。」
SparkLabs Taipei 為最早進駐科技部台灣科技新創基地 (TTA) 的新創加速器， SparkLabs Taipei 國際創投基金暨加速器甫成立兩年，四屆以來共投資 26 個新創團隊，其中 22組為台灣團隊。目前 SparkLabs Taipei 創投基金的跟投比率達到 80%，跟投的創投基金包含了國發基金、日本 NEC、Hive Ventures 蜂行資本等，足見 SparkLabs Taipei 所培訓團隊表現不凡。###
關於 SparkLabs Taipei：國際化、快速培訓、專注台灣新創
SparkLabs Taipei 國際創投基金暨新創加速器，是由台灣創業者邱彥錡（Edgar Chiu）於 2018 年成立並擔任管理合夥人。目前 SparkLabs Taipei 加速器每年徵收兩個梯次，為新創團隊進行三個月密集培訓。每個團隊在培訓期間享有辦公空間、培訓課程，並得以媒合 3 至 6 位具備成功全球市場創業經驗的導師，為創業者連結海外資源網絡、提升國際競爭力。
SparkLabs Taipei 國際創投基金目前規模達上億台幣，由中國信託金控領投，另有數名台裔天使投資人參與，目標「以台灣資金，投資台灣新創」。2018 年受科技部邀請進駐「台灣科技新創基地（TTA）」，投資領域包括物聯網、人工智慧、金融科技、數位醫療等領域。
關於 SparkLabs Group
SparkLabs Group 源自矽谷，旗下擁有 SparkLabs 創業加速器與 SparkLabs Global Ventures 創投基金。自2012 年在韓國首爾設立第一個 SparkLabs 創業加速器後，除了台北，目前在全球擁有矽谷、香港、首爾、新加坡、澳洲等 10 個據點。
SparkLabs 是由創業家為創業家所成立的全球網絡，所有創始合夥人都擁有共同創辦、參與初創、或早期投資世界知名新創公司的經驗，因此更能體會創業家懷抱理想在創業旅程中的艱辛與沈浮。SparkLabs 全球各辦公室分別專精於投資不同領域的新創事業，例如澳洲辦公室專注投資農業科技、阿曼辦公室專注於能源科技，SparkLabs Taipei 則善用台灣頂尖的技術與跨領域人才優勢，發掘通用科技創新團隊。
媒體聯絡人
SparkLabs Taipei
謝 榕 Flora Hsieh | +886-987-219-661 | flora@sparklabstaipei.com
邱彥錡 Edgar Chiu | +886-910-876-898 | edgar@sparklabstaipei.com
