Taipei Hosts "StartSphere" Event: Uniting Global Tech Innovators

Taipei, Taiwan—The Taipei City Government concluded its three-day "StartSphere Taipei" innovation event on Friday. 

The event brought together over 20 international venture capital firms, unicorn companies, and tech startups across Asia and the United States.

The "Today's Technology, Tomorrow's Trends" event aimed to showcase Taipei as an entrepreneur-friendly city and foster connections within the global innovation community.

Key highlights included:

• A Unicorn Forum featuring prominent unicorn startups like Indonesia's Kopi Kenangan and Xendit, alongside U.S.-based Botrista, discussing AI applications and Taiwan-U.S. cooperation.
• An International Venture Capital and Media Forum with participants from at least eight countries, including Japan's Z Venture Capital and Indonesia's Northstar Ventures.
• A Digital Pulse Forum focused on promoting cultural and entertainment industries globally, with South Korean film and entertainment representatives expressing interest in cooperating with Taipei, such as SmartStudy Ventures and Goyang Investment Authority. 

Chen Jun-An, Director of Taipei City Government's Department of Economic Development, said, "We hope this platform will attract more international resources and talent to focus on Taipei, invigorating the local innovation ecosystem and driving Taipei to become a leading innovation city in Asia."

The event, part of the broader "2024 Trendy Taipei" initiative, kicked off with a startup exchange session at the Taipei Innovation Lab on September 4. 

The meeting was accompanied by the preparatory group of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Expo 2025.

Subsequent days saw forums move to the previous Bottle Cap Factory Taipei Manufacturing Site, POPOP Taipei, covering topics from AI applications to digital transformation in entertainment industries.

Notable attendees included representatives from South Korea's The Pickool, Thailand's Techsauce, and successful Taiwanese startups like FunNow and Cherri Tech Inc. (TapPay).

The Taipei City Government aims to leverage this event to enhance its global image and attract international resources to its startup ecosystem.

In a related development, Startup Island TAIWAN is set to host the 2024 Japan-Taiwan Innovation Summit from September 16 to 18 in Tokyo. 

This third annual event, co-organized with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, will occur at the Tokyo Innovation Base (TiB).