In 2021, we were honored to be invited to the 5th Taipei Prominent Enterprise competition and won the “Cultivation Contribution Award” among hundreds of enterprises !
The Taipei City Government is committed to building innovative start-up environments for a long time, and Taipei City is currently the Taiwan’s largest accelerator with startups.
Taipei Mayor Ko and Uniform Lin
We, STARTBOARD, have been supporting all foreign talents who plan to start a business in Taipei at first. Until now, we have accelerated more than 40 enterprises from zero to one, including a wide range of industries such as Sportstech, Edutech, influencer marketing, ecommerce, blockchain, and so on. Furthermore, nowadays, we initialized NETA programme to assist Taiwanese enterprises to expand their business into the Southeast Asian market.
Note: NETA is the abbreviation of New southbound Entrepreneur Training Alliance and also the meaning of master or leader(नेता) in Hindi.
You never know which decision you made is correct or not. However, we feel blessed to go with our colleagues from Day 1 until today with our initial mission. We believe that our core value is beneficial to society and the whole startup ecosystem. It is unavoidable to be confronted with ups and downs in the process, but these difficulties indeed form our enterprise, STARTBOARD. said Uniform Lin, CEO of STARTBOARD.
STARTBOARD teammates
In 2021, a total of 16 companies were given awards by the Taipei City Government. We, STARTBOARD, are also honored to be given the Cultivation Contribution Award.
We will continue to support every talent who wants to start their business in Taipei and other cities of Taiwan. Thank you all, we’ll keep dedicating ourselves to the right thing.
5th Taipei Prominent Enterprise competition
Group photo of 16 companies in Taipei Prominent Enterprise competition
The Republic Day of India, the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26, January 1950, replaced the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India and thus, turning the nation into a newly formed republic. We gathered together to celebrate the Republic Day of India and invited Indian experts from different backgrounds to share information about the market & investment in India at the celebration tea party. After the peak of the epidemic in 2021, the vaccination penetration rate in India has increased, and the government has also sprung into action to promote monetary and fiscal policies to strengthen the economy. With China cracking down on the technology industry, international investors are looking to India as an emerging market for investment, which leads to an IPO boom of technology startups in India in 2021. Moreover, the growth of tech startups and the electric vehicle industry is expected to continue growing substantially in 2022.
Prior to the main sharing session from the speakers, we belted out the national anthem of India to celebrate this special day. Throughout these years, we’ve nurtured more than 40 startup teams to pursue their dreams and have seen booming Indian startup power in Taiwan. In addition to introducing STARTBOARD’s Indian teams, Dr. Dinesh Kumar launched his new product – DAILYGUDS, a trade automation platform that aims to automate the goods redistribution process of a country starting in Taiwan.
DAILYGUDS – product launch
India & Taiwan: A Synergic Collaboration for a Better Tomorrow
Ms. Arpita Dutta as the Senior Legal Consultant of Louis International Patent Office gave a detailed overview of India & Taiwan’s synergic collaboration. Based on both countries’ policies, talent resources, import & export categories, Taiwan is now facing a talents shortage and India’s young & high-tech talent pool is an important resource. Also, the trading categories of both countries seem to have complementary advantages. She also analyzed the startup environment and emphasized the importance of IP support, legal & pre-investment consultation, and company registration when developing the business into a new market.
Senior Legal Consultant of Louis International Patent Office – Ms. Arpita Dutta
The Investment Environment and Preferential Policies of Indian Market
Dr. Dinesh Kumar as the Regional Chairman-Asia of Indo-Foreign Business Council(IFBC) shared the information of India’s market and investment opportunities. In FY 2020-21, FDI inflows (including equity, re-invested earnings, and capital) reached the amount of US$81.72 billion, 10 percent higher than the previous year. Utilities, financial services, and healthcare ranked highest amongst industries likely to make new investments in India. There are also more and more international investors looking to invest in India, like Japan, the UK, Singapore, and the USA.
Regional Chairman-Asia, Indo-Foreign Business Council(IFBC), India. – Dr. Dinesh Kumar
How I Became a Serial Entrepreneur in Taiwan
Dr. Nikhil Pathak as the Founder of Sohum Foods shared his stories and experiences of being a serial entrepreneur in Taiwan. In 2018 he founded GoEco, producing bio-based, disposable eat-ware products. After several unsuccessful experiences, he combined those and founded Sohum Foods – an Indian vegan restaurant & cloud kitchen. He not only shared his failure but mentioned the important mindset of being an entrepreneur. Besides, he gave a brief introduction of Taiwan’s startup environment and its main strengths – convenience, speed & reliability, events & interactions.
Founder of Sohum Foods – Dr. Nikhil Pathak
We were happy to see the audience asking questions and networking with all the speakers after the speeches, building connections with the Indian community in Taiwan. And that’s STARTBOARD’s mission from day 1, providing enterprises interested in the ASEAN market with firsthand information, and encouraging more ASEAN talents to build their business in Taiwan. We celebrated Republic Day and hope for the continued prosperity of India.
Launched by the Thai government in 2016, the new economic transformation strategy – ‘Thailand 4.0’ aims to accelerate industrial transformation and to promote innovation, creativity, and advanced technology. Thailand has made remarkable economic development to further its strategy as Asia’s business center for multinational companies looking to penetrate into the Asian consumer market. Even though there are some challenges remaining due to political factors and the COVID-19 pandemic, many innovative business models have been created to accelerate the digitalization of the companies’ services and recent startups specializing in fintech, e-commerce, online trading, and SaaS have become more trending. Major steps have been taken to create ecosystems for startup incubation as it follows the ‘Thailand 4.0’ policies to support startup development at all stages. The steps include financial support and risk management, capacity-building for Thai and international startups, and increased connectivity with the regional and global communities. And so, STARTBOARD held the Thailand Theme Night on November 19th, 2021 in hope to encourage more entrepreneurs nor investors who are interested in the Thailand market to have a better understanding of the startup environment.
Prior to the main sharing session from the speakers, we received a few welcoming speeches from our special guests at the event. Firstly, Acting Executive Director of Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO) Mr. Sunh Arunrugstichai briefly explained Thailand’s development as a country. Despite the COVID situation, the bilateral trade and investment between Taiwan and Thailand are still sailing smoothly. In terms of ease of doing business in Thailand, it recently has shown more opportunities, especially to young entrepreneurs, due to increased internet access and access to mobile banking. Moreover, he also mentioned how the Thai government has been initiating an Eastern Economic Corridor project (EEC) to prepare the zone for the digital era by emphasizing in the 12 industries that are considered as important drivers for the country’s sustainable development.
Mr. Sunh Arunrugstichai – Acting Executive Director of Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO)
Assistance Investment Promotion Officer of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) in Taipei Office Mr. Kittipong Thapanapaha talked about ‘Thailand Investment Opportunity for Digital Industry’ and briefly explained why chose Thailand as a place to invest. Thailand is considered as the Crossroads of ASEAN due to the country being surrounded by the world’s economic powerhouses which can provide more opportunities for startups and investors to not just focus on Thailand, but also on the surrounding neighboring countries. The country has also been recognized to be a manufacturing-based industry for decades but it’s time to move forward with the Thai government strategy called ‘Thailand 4.0’ so as to enhance efficiency in the production process and increase competitiveness. He also briefly introduced the BOI promotion incentive package and the digital promotable activities.
Mr. Kittipong Thapanapaha – Assistance Investment Promotion Officer of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) in Taipei Office
Director of Thai Trade Office in Taipei Ms. Kallaya Leewongcharoen briefly introduced the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) with its mission to help Thai entrepreneurs to be competitive on the global stage by providing consultation and facilitating them through various service channels. It is also DITP’s mission to increase business opportunities for Thai products and services through international trade shows while also continually increasing the quality of their services.
Ms. Kallaya Leewongcharoen – Director of Thai Trade Office in Taipei
Representative of Thai Student Association in Taiwan (TSAT) Ms. Natwara Lohapraditakon briefly introduced TSAT which is an online community where Thai students gather together to share information about life and education in Taiwan. TSAT has done collaboration and receives funding from the TTEO for the events and gatherings they hold each year.
Vice President of NTUST Thai Student Association Mr. Chairat Mooksri briefly introduced the NTUST Thai Student Association in hopes that through this event the Thai students from NTUST can get more opportunities in the future such as special seminars, workshops, collaboration from organizations, or sponsorships.
In the video, President of Taiwanese Student Association in Thailand Mr. Nicolas briefly introduced the Taiwanese Student Association in Thailand which is officially the first Taiwanese student organization in Southeast Asia. Their organization’s main emphasis is to strengthen the relationship between full-time and exchange students that are living in Thailand. They also want to advocate the interchange of culture and education between Taiwanese and Thai people, especially the students.
By moving on to the main topics of the event, STARTBOARD has also invited wonderful speakers from different companies to share their experiences in building or expanding their business into Taiwan or Thailand.
The Business Opportunities between Thailand and Taiwan in a Post-pandemic Future
Ms. Woranath Khemasiri as the PwC Thai Accountant (Thai Expert of NETA) shared about the PwC launched the yearly Taiwan CEO Survey by interviewing CEOs of Taiwanese businesses who are listed in the Taiwan stock market and also the private sector. Based on this year’s Taiwan CEO survey, the CEOs’ view towards the post-pandemic future is positive as they expect the business to continuously expand and grow abroad. They also see the potential of Thailand, Korea, and Malaysia to be the biggest markets in the next few years. Due to the pandemic and the rise of conflict between the U.S. and China, it pushed the Taiwanese CEOs to consider risk management of their business and determine the possibility of which country to expand into. Then, she moves on to explain a few things to know about Thailand’s recent economic challenges and prospects for recovery. The tourism sector around the world undoubtedly got affected the most during the pandemic which led people to find places that are safe to travel to. For the country to change into a post-pandemic future, they need to upgrade the automatic sector as they are still traditionally doing business. And as for foreign investment in Thailand, business owners would still encounter some restrictions so they need to make sure that their business complies with the law while also managing to get tax incentives from the government.
Ms. Woranath Khemasiri – PwC Thai Accountant
Connect the Future by mmWave Technologies
Mr. Su-Wei Chang as the Founder and CEO of TMYTEK mentioned that two important things to remember when moving towards digitalization are energy as in power to the future and communication. The company’s mission is to improve life quality with mmWave bandwidth as the 5G spectrum will keep growing bigger into the future. Then he moved on to talk a little bit about Metaverse which is about connecting the virtual world with reality. With a lot of bandwidth like mmWave, it can support the foundation of Metaverse and also achieve a future where all smart cities are connected. As a startup, he wants the company to be able to solve any problems related to mmWave. And so, the first product they made is BBox which currently has delivered 100 sets of it to companies including KDDI, SoftBank, Fujitsu, several Fortune 500 companies, and research institutions. Furthermore, the company recently announced the world’s 1st 5G mmWave Developer Kit for Academics and Research while also wanting to support mmWave talent incubation. Lastly, the reason Mr. Su-Wei Chang chose to enter the Thailand market other than having good connections with many Thai friends, it’s currently not easy for the business to go back to Europe and the U.S., especially with the recent global economic situation. He concluded that Thailand is considered to be a good place to build businesses for many reasons such as the population being very open to it.
Mr. Su-Wei Chang – Founder and CEO of TMYTEK
KOL Marketing in Thailand
Ms. Thelma Lin as the Director of Taiwan to South Association talked about how some of the social media are utilized in Thailand. During the pandemic, few of the internet eConomy sectors were on the rise, especially the online media sector. Firstly, Facebook is still widely used by Thai people even with its complex algorithm to reach the target audience. She emphasizes the importance of knowing how the algorithm works and to try an advertisement mix to analyze what kind of content will attract the right audience. Then for marketing through Instagram, picture quality matters because it can attract more followers if the quality of content is good. Last but not least, Youtube is all about putting more emphasis on long-tail SEO, especially in how frequently you update with quality content. In addition to those social media platforms, LINE is also considered to be very popular in Thailand. According to Ms. Thelma Lin, Thailand has the second most LINE users, coming behind Japan as the number one LINE users in the world.
Ms. Thelma Lin – Director of Taiwan to South Association
The e-commerce market and industry in thailand
Ms. Bow as the Thailand Marketing Specialist of GDT briefly mentioned the company’s services such as e-commerce, influencer, and payment & fulfillment. In terms of e-commerce solutions, GDT would always recommend building an official website as it’s the best way to build first impressions and gather brand-based memberships. Moreover, nearly 98% of users browse websites via portable devices so owning an application is also useful to save marketing budget and enhance the relationship between customers and brands.
GDT can also provide OMO (Online Merge Offline) solutions and fulfillment solutions; which is about building the company’s very own warehouse. With their solutions, the GDT team is capable of providing the most thoughtful service with effectiveness in cost and time, plus OMO opportunities. Lastly, when Ms. Bow was being asked about the differences in marketing strategies in ASEAN countries, she mentioned some countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia would have their own social media platforms so it may be harder for business owners to penetrate into those markets. However, in the case of Thailand, it has more international platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LINE, etc. The other problem that should be taken into consideration when applying the marketing strategy in other countries such as ASEAN would be the language barrier.
Ms. Bow – Thailand Marketing Specialist of GDT
Smart Fitness Solution and Business Model
Ms. Frances Huang as the Business Development Manager of Uniigym introduced the company as a platform that consists of people who love sports and builds solutions for people who love exercise without worrying about time and space. Furthermore, they help to enhance the fitness experience by the use of AR trainers (AI interactive fitness service). The service not only benefits the families but also the trainers who want to build their personal brand. The technology will track the movement for its accuracy and also record exercise history and health data tracking. Lastly, the reason why she chose Thailand for expanding Uniigym services is that the people in Thailand are very open-minded to new things and are looking for convenient ways to connect with each other. So due to already having connections in Thailand, she easily managed to hire trainers, employees and influencers.
Ms. Frances Huang – Business Development Manager of Uniigym
After the speeches, we also arranged time for the audience to ask questions and to network with all the speakers. Many Thai students and talents in Taiwan came to build connections with Taiwanese companies and startups. And connecting the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Taiwan and ASEAN countries is always our mission. STARTBOARD will consistently fulfill our vision and we toasted for the continued prosperity of Thailand and the everlasting friendship between our countries.
Singapore is known for being a great place for expatriates, investors, and entrepreneurs looking to tap into emerging markets in Asia. However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, any further business plan nor expansion came to a halt. Fortunately, Singapore already has a strong foundation in “Fintech”, “Information and Communication Technology” and “Service Industry” which can lead to further development of digital transformation. And so, STARTBOARD held the Singapore Theme Night on October 29th, 2021 in hope to encourage more entrepreneurs nor investors who are interested in the Singaporean market to have a better understanding of the startup environment.
The successful event was filled with many honorable guests such as Mr. Stephen Sun (Secretary-General of NUS Business School Taiwan Alumni Chapter), Mr. Chien-Ping Chung (Director of the Incubation Center of NTUST), Mr. Michael Lai (Public Relations Director of Singapore Taiwanese Student Association), and Ms. Roanne Hsieh (Vice President of AIESEC in Taiwan). STARTBOARD has also invited two Singaporean experts who are willing to share their hands-on experiences in the Singaporean market. Firstly, Mr. Aaron Asher Su (Seasoned Marketing & Sales Professional), who has gained a wealth of experience of 15 years in marketing, sales & business development. Next is Mr. Quentin Yang (Business Development Manager of Glints) who is the founding member of Glints Taiwan and has rich insights on the market trends and the startup ecosystem.
Cultural Differences in the Workplace between Singapore and Taiwan
Mr. Aaron Asher Su as the Seasoned Marketing & Sales Professional guides us to answer one of the main questions for today’s event: “Why choose Singapore for business or as an individual?”. Since he is a Singaporean living in Taiwan, he shares the reasons why Singapore is considered as the Asia HQ for thousands of global businesses. Strategic location, bigger talent pool, business-friendly environment, and many more as the government will provide various benefits for future startups in Singapore. While it may sound good for businesses only, there are also other benefits for the individual who plans to seek out more opportunities in the country. The work culture in Singapore is more flexible than in Taiwan as the people emphasize the results instead of the work progress. Also with other attractive benefits such as the robust job portals and multicultural diversity can attract numerous opportunists coming to Singapore. Due to the pandemic, many business operations are affected so Aaron emphasized the importance of being digitally transformed as it will bring great advantages to businesses and also upgrade one’s skills from time to time.
Mr. Aaron Asher Su – Seasoned Marketing & Sales Professional
Taiwan Startup Expanding to Singapore
Mr. Chien-Ping Chung, the Director of the Incubation Center of NTUST, shared his insights about expanding businesses into Singapore. Due to the Covid-19 worldwide, the government released policies to support startups with various subsidies in the country. As such, startups can get resources, funding, and the opportunity to expand into other countries. Numerous recommendations will also be given from the government and the efficiency of opening a business can be shortened to one day.
And in the latter section of the event, he moved on to share his experiences as the former director of AImazing. AImazing is a platform for mall management to collect shopper insights, tenant performance, and benchmarking in order to create data-driven decisions. It has supported more than 99% of Point of Sale Systems in Asia. Due to Covid-19, the impact on the economic sector has been greatly affected but more opportunities arise with the presence of digital transformation. To conclude his speech: “Singapore is a great location for most startups because it provides various subsidies”. As he mentioned before, various benefits from the government are accessible to anyone who is interested in setting up their business in Singapore.
Mr. Chien-Ping Chung – Director of the Incubation Center of NTUST
Singapore Entrepreneur in Taiwan
Mr. Quentin Yang, the Business Development Manager of Glints shared about the recruitment journey with Glints. Glints is the largest talent platform for career development and recruitment in Southeast Asia. Their vision is to impact 100 million careers and 1 million organizations and also to be the number 1 talent platform in greater Southeast Asia. Glints’ status is currently on Series C and has over 900 employees; including in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan. They have seen many cases where companies have problems with a talent shortage, longer hiring time, and high hiring costs. To help tackle the recruiting issues, they have built a well-developed talent pool database algorithm and have professional consultants to organize the profiles for matching with the recruiters’ requirements.
The difference he sees between Southeast Asia and Taiwan is that the market in Southeast Asia has shown potential high growth and is also home to the emerging tech ecosystems. With Taiwan, he has seen the blooming startup ecosystem and the growth of skilled tech talents which led him to build the foundation of Glints Taiwan in hopes to expand the company across Taiwan and Northeast Asian countries.
Mr. Quentin Yang – Business Development Manager of Glints
The Delta variant made a huge economic impact on the whole world once again, but Taiwan enterprises have never stopped developing their business into the ASEAN market. In this era of harshness, there are still tons of opportunities. To step into this market, STARTBOARD held the INTO ASEAN MARKET webinar on 20th August 2021. In this webinar, we focus on two countries of ASEAN. One is Indonesia, which is the biggest economy of ASEAN, and the other one is Vietnam, which successfully controlled the poverty population from 70% to merely 6% within 20 years.
With many distinguished guests attending the event, including TAIRTA, IAPS, TTA, Louis Group, Cross bond, and NETA, this webinar became a huge success. STARTBOARD also invited experts from ASEAN markets and CEOs from Taiwanese startups to this webinar as speakers. The first one is Edison Hsueh, business deputy director of STARTBOARD, who strives to continue helping both foreign and Taiwanese startups with their business and resources such as government resources and Southeast Asian market trends. The following two speakers are representatives of Taiwanese startup companies. The first one is Ivan Tsou, the CEO of Formosation. Their first product has raised more than NT$ 1 million within just one month on the crowdfunding platform. They are currently expanding markets in Japan and Vietnam. Another one is James Chao, the founder and CEO of Destino Skincare. He adheres to the concept of “Excellent skincare products in line with international standards”, and continues to promote high-quality products and Taiwanese beauty brands to the international market.
Moreover, there are two experts from ASEAN countries. One is Evy Chang, the investor relations director of Wiziin. She led and implemented large strategic National Image projects combined with detailed market-trend and opportunity assessments with customer insights. And the other one is Antonius Agoeng, the founder of ISheEra, who has successfully assisted many Taiwanese brands in entering the Indonesian markets through his e-commerce platform and agency.
The overview of ASEAN Market and Opportunities
This webinar started with a speech, given by Edison, the Business Deputy Director from STARTBOARD. As an incubator, STARTBOARD focuses on assisting entrepreneurs from ASEAN and Indian countries to start their own businesses in Taiwan. For the past three years, they have been coaching students from both ASEAN and Taiwan to start their own businesses. Also, they have assisted Taiwanese entrepreneurs to expand their brands into ASEAN and Indian markets through marketing research and international connections.
Edison started his speech by introducing the strengths of all the countries in ASEAN markets. First, he pointed out the advantage of the large population. There are 650 million people in ASEAN markets. Because the birth rate in ASEAN is higher than in Taiwan, there is no need to worry about population aging. Moreover, the ethnological cultures in the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are all Hedonism when it comes to purchasing. It will keep activating the economy, especially in domestic services and daily necessities. Edison also focused on the startup ecosystem, mentioning the countries in ASEAN have been generous in giving resources. The atmosphere was delightful, which successfully boosted 12 unicorns in ASEAN markets. The credits all go to the operation of the ASEAN markets and the resources they contain. Also, this is the reason why Taiwanese enterprises should seize this opportunity.
Formosation, the advocator of oral health
Ivan Tsou, the CEO of Formosation, dedicates himself to improving and strengthening people’s concept of periodontal cleaning. To lower the rate of Taiwanese suffering from periodontal disease, he has developed a safe and convenient dental floss called “Morph” with partners from different specializations. This product has raised over 100 million dollars within only one month after being launched on the crowdfunding platform. The company is arranging the paths to Japan and Vietnam now.
Aside from Morph, Formosation has been promoting AntiQ Smart Toothbrush. By using an interactive APP, brushing teeth can be a game, helping people form a habit to brush their teeth. Also, by implementing subscription mode, consumers will maintain their habits in order to reach complete and authentic oral care. This product has been awarded the Top 50 international track announcement, standing out from approximately 2,000 groups in Startup Wheel 2021. For the future plan, because factories all over the world are moving south currently, Ivan has been considering establishing a branch in Vietnam, not only to do marketing research but also to find out more international talents to develop ASEAN markets.
DESTINO, the expert of skincare
James Chao founded DESTINO in 2011, which is exclusively for Taiwanese females. Their products aim to improve Atopic Dermatitis and other allergies Taiwanese have suffered. In addition, they contain hypoallergenic formulas the company emphasizes a lot to avoid overstimulation. James upholds the concept of becoming a top skincare brand and continues to promote Taiwanese cosmetics with excellent qualities to the world, aiming to integrate with international markets soon. The company has already sold its products to Japanese and Southeast Asia markets with success.
DESTINO has entered the online e-commerce markets in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. Local consumers value the whitening effect a lot, as well as the anti-wrinkle and blemish. Their new product, RUBY, contains cistus abstraction, which can smooth wrinkles effectively and meet the requirement of consumers from Southeast Asia. “ In a market full of the same products from different brands, it is Word of Mouth strategy that matters,” said James. He also pointed out that a product may not appeal to Taiwanese consumers due to the high price. However, in Southeast Asia, the same product may be a hit due to conspicuous consumption, which is the marketing strategy in DESTINO. James is looking forward to finding powerful connections with local enterprises in ASEAN markets.
How to grasp your Vietnamese startup marketing opportunities?
Evy Chang, the investor relations director of Wiziin, is a Chinese Indonesian. Because of this unique identity, she is utterly familiar with the Indonesian markets. Furthermore, she understands the traits of Vietnamese markets as well due to her two-year working experience there. At that time, Evy went to two startup companies and was the general manager and the investor relations director separately. She sources and verifies opportunities through reliable networks across Greater China and ASEAN countries in both the public and various ecosystems.
For the Vietnamese market, Evy firstly dives into the circumstance of lacking a fundraising platform in Vietnam. “If you think that it is so hard to find the investors, the investor may have the same problem with where he or she can invest!” said Evy. She also mentioned that the investor matching platform like Wiziin is like a CC cream of a company. Before a startup team entered a crowdfunding platform, they may have been competitive but lacked some package and marketing skills. Thus, this kind of investor matching platform can help them build up these skills and make them catch the eye of the investors in the Vietnamese market. Lastly, Evy discussed the significance of knowing their target customers. In addition, she brought out the importance of one group of customers, Generation Z. Generation Z, who are addicted to the internet and spend money like water, plays a crucial role in this generation of e-commerce. Evy said that we should take advantage of their characteristics, letting them be happy to buy your products. Making some positive and eye-catching marketing content could be your first step to try.
The vital materials Taiwanese business should get before entering Indonesia market
The expert of the Indonesian market in this webinar, Antonius Agoeng, is also a Chinese Indonesian. Since the twenty-year living experience of Taiwan, he knows the living ways and cultural differences between Taiwan and Indonesia so well. The promotion of the new southbound policy and caring for the women issue makes him want to found ISheEra, the company that helps Taiwanese brands entrance the Indonesian market by selling feminine products through an e-commerce platform and purchasing agents.
Mr. Agoeng firstly emphasized the importance of the e-commerce platform and purchasing agents by mentioning Generation Z. Further, he talked about the advantages of the Indonesian market, like the political stability, the growing numbers of Infrastructure construction, etc. “If you would like to enter the Indonesian market, please be friends with them sincerely,” said Mr. Agoeng, he reminded Taiwanese businesses to keep Hala and brand localization in mind.
The networking section
After finishing the topic lecture, the webinar went to another section, the networking section. In this part, they focused on the three topics “The steps of entering the ASEAN market”, “The strategies about dealing with covid-19 pandemic”, “The precautions of entering into ASEAN market”
In the aspect of entering the ASEAN market, they visited the pain-point of the market first. Agoeng and Evy mentioned that the crucial part of being well developed is earning the trust of the locals. Moreover, you have to be patient and have a long-term management attitude, which means that you shouldn’t think your products will be sold out easily and do not notice the thought from the customer’s mind. On the other hand, you have to get to know more about your customers like when will they buy your products? Ivan and James also share their viewpoint with the audiences afterward. They pop out the necessity of cooperating with professional teams and experts.
After the discussion about the pain-point of the market, the four speakers started further to the topics of the potential industry. Evy brought out Generation Z which she mentioned before and emphasized that the products that have a sense of freshness are the potential industry. Additionally, Agoeng said the health tech industry is also viewed as an important industry gradually. Especially for the consciousness of health getting higher than before, Agoeng recommended Taiwansese health tech-related industries to give a try on expanding their business to ASEAN.
Although covid-19 may raise people’s consciousness toward health and bring out business opportunities, it still affected many companies. In this webinar, both Ivan and James mentioned current situations, such as supply chain disruption and cash flow. Also, consumption patterns have changed a lot, which increases the importance of online shopping. Ivan pointed out the significance of the awareness of e-commerce. Changing business strategies as time goes on is crucial. Evy supported Ivan by analyzing the pandemic period. She does not consider avoidance a long-term plan. Companies need to have plans to adopt and prevent covid-19 from going on in the next few months or years.
As startups promote their brands and products into ASEAN markets, sometimes their marketing mindset and strategy remain the same as they used in Taiwan. Antonius pointed out that companies need to think twice about customer’s buying habits when entering local markets. Adjusting products’ information on each package while complying with the regulations will be one solution to make consumers understand Taiwanese brands better. Evy added that sometimes the business strategy needs to be flexible. For example, when composing advertising or marketing copy, putting local employees or interns in control may get better results than being coached by supervisors. Having faith in local employees and believing in their perspectives could lead to spectacular outcomes.
Speaking of the potential countries to expand businesses in the future, Ivan said his mid-term goal would be entering Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. Among Southeast Asia markets, consumers in these three countries value teeth whitening the most. They are willing to spend a large amount of money on this benefit. Targeting this kind of consumer psychology will lead to a promising future for Formosation.
At the end of the webinar, we have arranged a Q&A section for the audience online. All the startup talents can leave their questions and doubts about starting a business or ASEAN markets in the live stream chat room. These questions from discussing the industry categories to talent management were all answered by four speakers, such as the feasibility of the online fitness industry and the difference among local customs, cultures, and use of languages when managing talents from different countries. The speakers have shared their personal experiences and problem-solving techniques with the audience without reservation. This Q&A section not only made online talents, who are interested in Southeast Asia markets, get loads out of it but also brought a successful conclusion to this webinar. STARTBOARD understands that ASEAN markets may be promising but unfamiliar areas for Taiwanese enterprises. Therefore, we are looking forward to helping startup teams, and small and medium enterprises enter the Southeast Asia markets. We are also willing to help them find talent to support their journey in expanding their businesses.
To enable entrepreneurs in Taipei to explore the Southeast Asian market, “Subsidies and Incentives for Taipei Industry Project” organized the “ Taipei Entrepreneur Exchange Conference – All the way to the south and the key to success,” where they had gathered entrepreneurs from all walks of life to share their first-hand experiences and insights into the Southeast Asian market. The event had a good start through the coordination between Subsidies and Incentives for Taipei Industry Project and Social Innovation Lab, where current entrepreneurial resources integrated by the government and the private sector are highlighted. The grand opening was followed by” The Introduction of The Southeast Asian Market,” launched by Uniform Lin, the COO at STARTBOARD, “Market Development In Singaporean Market,” launched by Xu Bozhen, the CEO at Rooit and “ Must-know Resources for Cross-border E-commerce Industry,” launched by Tsai Songda, the deputy secretary general at Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei. Lastly, the event would be wrapped up by Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) with international match-making and funding as well as network resources provided.
【Entrepreneurial Resources from The Government and Private Sectors】
(Jiang Yijun , PM at Subsidies and Incentives for Taipei Industry Project)
(Chen Yiwen, Assistant Manager at Taiwan Startup Hub)
Taiwan Startup Hub also made an introduction about their services with an eye to assisting entrepreneurs to utilize startup resources in an efficient manner. Sticking to the notion of “a hub,” they have been compiling resources from the central and local governments as well as private accelerators. Aside from that, with the use of virtual integration, “ International Entrepreneur Initiative Taiwan” was established so as to play as a liaison between entrepreneurs and both government and private sectors. In this manner, the construction of a holistic startup ecosystem can be facilitated.
【Advice for Expanding Your Businesses to ASEAN Countries】
(Uniform Lin, COO at STARTBOARD)
Lin Zhifu, the COO at STARTBOARD, shared the practical experience of the ASEAN market especially for those ambitious souls who aspire to set foot in the ASEAN market. His advice are as follows — First thing first, the Southeast Asian market should be considered separately. Many of us may deem ASEAN as a whole market while the culture, environment, religion, and market are diverse to do so. Secondly, without wholehearted preparation, you wouldn’t want to bounge into a new market. Given that the equity agreements often require partners of local nationality to hold up to 49 to 51% of the shares, each enterprise shall think twice. The point is to find a local partner, especially a trustworthy one to cooperate. Last but not least, we need to verify information ruthlessly. Due to its environment and languages, startup information in those countries is not as transparent as Tawian’s. Before any cooperation plan comes into play, due diligence is strongly recommended to manage potential risks.
Ever since its establishment, STARTBOARD has kept in contact with international talents from ASEAN countries, so as to accumulate the human resources from international talents. In this way, when global talents join in a Taiwan company or startup, they showcase the bonus to connect with ASEAN market and partners and also provide accurate information as well as experiences to live up to the demand of “southbound.”
【New Southbound Policy – Plan ahead and don’t make it complicated】
(Xu Bozhen, CEO at Rooit)
Rooit is committed to developing mobile applications and dating systems and was selected to play a part in TechStars. Their mission is to find everyone a partner who can confide to. Owing to this totally different core value, Rooit provides anonymous chatroom and interactive game for users to cultivate tacit understanding and communication. Mr. Xu also shared his insights into the Singaporean market based on their experiences. The following are some focal points that determine whether your expanding would go smoothly into ASEAN market.
To begin with, the pivot is market research and estimation. The strategies should either depend on population, geographical location or on the questionnaire. Secondly, when the targeted market has limited resources, then we shall narrow down the range.
Lastly, Mr. Xu mentioned the significance of “speed.” More often then not, startups struggle to maintain daily operation so adaptability to the latest trends and the development with efficiency count. Members of a startup need to adapt their attitudes so as to get along well with different markets and politics as well as culture.
【Resources for Cross-border E-commerce】
(Tsai Songda, Deputy Secretary General at Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei)
Tsai Songda, Deputy Secretary General at Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei, led the key point to the cross-border e-commerce industry. He mentioned that many entrepreneurs started to do e-commerce things more than a decade ago, setting up company websites, and activating shopping carts and so on. Nonetheless, “e-commerce is not just about putting goods on the website. Search engine optimization, diversion, and freight services are all full of learning points.” Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei is in charge of assisting entrepreneurs to commercialize the e-commerce process and expand business overseas. Currently, the guild is promoting the 17cross e-commerce and TCEI Taiwan incubation so as to provide information and communication platform for entrepreneurs in Taipei.
【International Capital Match】
Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) and Taiwan Innovation and Entrepreneur Center (TIEC) shared several resources with entrepreneurs, including investment, mentor, accelerator, and technology, etc and they also nurture startup teams to go on to the stage of the U.S. Capital will be introduced through the International Capital Matching Association. It is expected to open in mid-September and till the end of October. They will also conduct training on presentation and business plan drafting with a capital match launched in the middle of November, where 20 investors from ten different fields will provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to enter into the international arena.
The event had come to a perfect ending. Aside from providing subsidies, Subsidies, and Incentives for Taipei Industry Project also offers entrepreneurs a chance to exchange insights, accelerating the development of the startup ecosystem. Startup@Taipei also invited enterprise that gained the funding to participate in the event – hopefully via the event, urgent needs for localizing in overseas markets can be met.
On Jan 14th, STRTBOARD was invited to attend Taiwan Rapid Innovation Prototyping League for Entrepreneurs (TRIPLE ) matchmaking event at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. As a lead player in Taiwan’s startup market, TRIPLE has combined the benefits of SI/ODM, accelerators and research institutes in Taiwan with an eye to providing startup teams with designing, marketing, and researching services. Aside from solid assistance to startup teams, TRIPLE has also been making constant efforts to increase multilateral communication, which is why we got the ticket to the matchmaking event!
During the event, TRIPLE invited top-notch executives from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) to walk us through their experiences in India and Taiwan and the current startup trends. Established in 1958, IIT Bombay has been making progress along the way, emerging as one of the top technical universities around the globe. Their constant efforts in engineering education and research are world-renowned and with that, they have both built up cooperation with peer universities and institutes as well as created a niche for innovation through their umbrella organization named Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE).
The manager of SINE also took the floor and introduced themselves. Fixing its eyes on fostering entrepreneurship and nurturing tech startups, SINE administers a business incubator providing “scale to scale” support for tech-based startup teams and it manages to facilitate the conversion of research activity into entrepreneurial ventures.
Last but not least, there’re several startup teams from India that grabbed our attention. By and large, most of their services and products concentrate on rooting out social problems in their country with the implementation of cutting-edge technology. Take Kaaenaat for example. Bewaring the problem of traffic chaos in India, which may lead to tragic accidents from time to time, they made good use of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to cut down on the possibility of a car crash. Also, Combat Robotics India Private Limited aims at saving more lives with robot designing.
It’s our pleasure to meet up with institutions with the same ideas at heart for creating a holistic and friendly startup ecosystem; also, getting to know more about startup market in India gives us a clearer idea regarding how to cooperate with teams from this country, which is the icing on the cake. STARTBOARD genuinely looks forward to further collaboration with Indian fellows we met in the event!
It’s our pleasure to meet up with 創意點子BRAVO iDEAS, exchanging different insights into the Southeast Asia market!
Specialized in AR, image recognition and route guidance, BRAVO iDEAS has patented technology in 48 countries worldwide, including the States, China, Japan, and EU, etc.
To delve into what we’re discussing during the meeting, please visit our Facebook fanpage:
India Theme Night held by STARTBOARD has caught the fancy of the audience on September 11, 2018. Located at Social Innovation Lab, the event was filled with excitement and curiosity from the audience. Not only to have a deeper understanding of India startup market and entrepreneur, but also to build a connection with fellow audiences and get some real-life experience from the professional guest speakers.
From student to startup, from India to Taiwan
Our first guest speaker is Nikhil Pathak, the founder of GO-ECO. As someone who took Ph.D. and has experienced university life in Taiwan, Nikhil brings out the real-life stories and his experience from being a student and his journey until he managed to build his own company. His company, GO-ECO, is a startup concerned about the worsening plastic pollution from all over the world. Nikhil built GO-ECO with the hope of their customers to be eco-friendly, just like the company name.
By Joining a competition called The Hult Prize, Nick was able to learn on how to turn an idea into solutions and make solutions into business model, and he thinks business model can make an impact on society.
Some inspiring words and tips from Nick that he got from his life experiences:
Dream big
Have a bigger vision and mission
Turn an idea to a vision
If you believe you can change the world, one day you will.
A good idea is an idea that solves a problem
The leap of faith
Nick pointed out living out the comfort zone and go to do something you are not quite aware of is called the leap of faith.
Even if we succeed or fail, the leap is worth to take, so please take the leap.
Nick also encouraged students in Taiwan to take the first step to start a startup, since Taiwan has nice ecosystems, incubators, and co-working spaces. Startups are very diverse and powerful in Taiwan, so Nick encourages every student to go for the idea they have.
“If you really want to have a startup, you should have a habit to work hard and get out of your comfort zone.”
Why to start a startup in India?
Our second keynote speaker is Ananta Kar, having had a lot of experiences and a great education background, also experienced living and studying in various countries, including MBA at National Taiwan University, he is a founder of startup company Consult Dr, a platform that helps patients to make online appointments and to connect doctors online. He shared the experience of Indian entrepreneurs and how is the startup ecosystem in India.
India is expected to grow more than 7% in the near future, which means that there is a great possibility to start a business or startups in India. They have 3-4 startups growing every day, and 55% of millennials preferred to start their own startup. Also, the number of incubators in India has increased by 40%.
Ananta emphasized that India has an unparalleled opportunity for startups. India is the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world, and highest FDI inflows in last for about 2 until 5 years, plus there is an ease of doing business in the country, and you can do any business on the internet, mobile platform, and cashless economy.
On August, 21th 2018, STARTBOARD participated in Mox Demo Day, where 6 startup teams full of brilliant ideas pitch their products to senior investors.
Founded by SOS Venture and Gmobi, Mox made its debut in December, 2015. As its name discloses, Mox is also known as Mobile Only Accelerator, making 24/7 dedication to nurture global startup teams in such fields as application, mobile services and online platform. Mox provide startups with top-notch mentors and resources with an eye to refining startup teams’ business models and eventually nailing it at emerging markets.’
Starting up is about creating a whole new business model that is innovative enough to disrupt the ecosystem; not about maximizing your income by adhering to old patterns.
Mox provides startup teams with opportunities to pitch themselves in front of the general public, government agencies and investors with laser-like perception.At Mox Demo Day, STARTBOARD also met up with six startups with promising future, seeking further possibilities of cooperation with big corporation and investors. The first startup team we desire to highlight is ClearDekho from India.
ClearDhkho is the first of such online prescription glasses business in India!Harnessing their keen observation well, ClearDhkho realizes that in India, more than 250 million people dwelling in remote areas and little towns get daily struggles to “see clearly.” On top of hectic traffic and the long distance they need to travel through, some prices of eyewear products exceed the reasonable price they set.
ClearDhkho also regards itself as Warby Parker for the India mass market, allowing target audience to purchase glasses with simply a few clicks at 7 US dollars. Aside from perks of saving your time and money, the good news is that ships and returns are all for free! Setting their sights on achieving 75% of the Indian population, ClearDhkho continues to expand the business, opening six to seven stores in India on a monthly basis!
STARTBOARD with Singh Shivi, the co-founder from ClearDekho
