TREE: SelectUSA-awarded Taiwan startups met Bay Area founders and investors

SAN FRANCISCO,July 5,2022 --July 4th is the time to be proud to be Americans,and six Taiwan startups were invited by SelectUSA Investment Summit to consider investing in the U.S. Followed by the summit,they are visiting the Bay Area during the Independent Day weekend to exchange ideas with Silicon Valley startups,including startups that were founded by notable ex Meta (formally Facebook) and Tesla leads,and Tim Draper,the legendary venture capitalist.

Bi-khim Hsiao,Taiwan Representative in US,greets startups from the TREE program,which is sponsored by Taiwan government’s Department of Industrial Technology,Ministry of Economic Affairs

Six startup teams were selected by Taiwan government's Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs via a program,TREE,to represent the emerging technology of the country at the SelectUSA Investment Summit "Taiwan Deep Tech". Among the startups,two received recognition by SelectUSA: Robotic company Mechavision,which builds a layer of fast-responsive tactile skin to industrial robots to ensure that the safety requirements of human-robot collaboration are met,is one of the global top 10 tech startups. Biomedical company BELX,which develops plant-based drugs for the treatment of solid tumors,viral infectious diseases and aging-related chronic diseases,is selected into the Global Women in Tech Mentorship Network Project (SGWIT).

"Taiwan government is very supportive of tech innovation,especially those deep tech startups from research institutions," said Dr. Chyou-Huey Chiou,Director General of the DoIT. He referenced that Taiwan was ranked on the top of the Innovation Capability category in the World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness assessment. He also mentioned that the U.S. provides great growing opportunities for startups. "That's why we are bringing startups to attend SelectUSA and visit Silicon Valley's startups."

After the summit,those startups were invited by the U.S. government (American Institute in Taiwan and San Francisco City) to visit the Bay Area to exchange ideas with local innovative startups. U.S. startup founders were impressed by technical capabilities of Taiwan startups: Atayalan Technology offers enterprises with optimized 5G private network management software technology. Adirtek provides a big data analytic Internet of Things technology to ensure quality products for semiconductor manufacturers. ELECLEAN applies electro-chemical technology to transform water into reactive oxygen species by using nano-catalysts and won World Health Organization certification with its patented,chemical-free self-cleaning technology.

Those six startups also visited Bay Area investors,including Tim Draper and Chih-Kai Cheng,Chair of B Current Impact Investment. Draper used the example that he invests in one of the six startups,Taiwan Cybersecurity Foundry,to illustrate that he invests in companies that are ahead of the industry. Taiwan Cybersecurity Foundry provides information security monitoring services for companies in the supply chain,medical,e-commerce and high-tech manufacturing sectors. Cheng said that B Current invests in sustainability startups,and he is excited to see those amazing Taiwan and U.S. startups that are bringing a positive impact to the environment.

Startups will conclude the trip this coming week but interested VC,research institutions and corporations can contact the TREE program to partner with those startups. Contact: Erica Lin at erica.lin@itri.org.tw

About TREE Program

The innovative Taiwan Research-Institute Entrepreneur Ecosystem Program (TREE) was launched by the Taiwan government's Department of Industrial Technology of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 2021. It forges an ecosystem that assists research institutions in building enthusiasm and skills for setting up new spin-off companies through systematic and customized consultations. TREE helps startups during the commercialization processes with innovative thinking to accelerate their growth.

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