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Taiwan’s Leading Innovators

Currently, Taiwan boasts a thriving startup ecosystem, home to over 7,400 startups. Annually, around 300 or more of these startups secure investments, amassing a cumulative investment pool of a staggering $1.9 billion.

Championing Innovation: NEXT BIG Award

Every year, in partnership with the National Development Council (NDC), NEXT BIG Award recognizes and celebrates exceptional startups, fostering an environment of innovation in Taiwan.

With the focus on edu-tech, health tech, and green tech, the committee chose these 13 outstanding startups in 2023:

Brainstorming over paper
Photo by Scott Graham / Unsplash

AmazingTalker

  • Founded in 2016, AmazingTalker is a global learning platform that combines special algorithms with AI to make learning languages and acquiring knowledge online accessible. With over 11,000 teachers and more than 2 million students worldwide, it’s a thriving education platform.

Hahow

  • Established in 2015, Hahow is Taiwan’s largest online course platform, with nearly a million members and over 1,000 courses taught by more than 700 instructors.
People in an open air restaurant at night time
Photo by Syed Ahmad / Unsplash

FunNow Group

  • Founded in 2015, FunNow Group is the largest on-demand lifestyle booking platform in Greater Southeast Asia. It offers reservation services for over 15 local essential lifestyle service industries, collaborating with more than 5,500 partner establishments and serving around 2.4 million registered members.

inline

  • Founded in 2015, inline provides restaurant operators with a comprehensive customer management system, automating service processes and enhancing customer interactions.

Dcard

  • Since 2015, Dcard has grown into Taiwan’s largest social platform for young people, with 8 million registered members and over 20 million monthly visitors. They’ve expanded into various commercial models such as advertising, e-commerce and multimedia platform.
Working with a computer
Photo by Dan Nelson / Unsplash

CyCraft

  • Founded in 2017, CyCraft is an AI cybersecurity innovator, providing comprehensive defense solutions against cyber threats. CyCraft has received NT$250 million in funding and is designated as a partner for enhancing cybersecurity in small and medium-sized enterprises by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Gogolook

  • Since 2012, Gogolook has been a global trust technology company, offering digital anti-fraud and risk management services. Their flagship product, Whoscall, boasts over a billion downloads globally.

EUI

  • Established in 2016, EUI offers secure cross-border financial services, incorporating RegTech, Big Data, and AI identity verification technologies. They aim to guide foreign workers to carry out remittances through legitimate channels.
sea freight and container port
Photo by engin akyurt / Unsplash

GoFreight

  • Established in 2017, GoFreight is the world’s largest cloud-based freight forwarding management system. Its goal is to redefine the sea and air freight operations through technology, transforming the nearly $300 billion international freight forwarding market.

NextDrive

  • Since 2013, NextDrive has been focused on energy IoT technology, providing comprehensive software and hardware integration services ranging from energy gateways to cloud computing and device data management platforms.

Tron Future

  • Established in 2018, Tron Future is a rapidly growing defense and space technology company, specializing in unmanned drone defense systems and satellite communication technology.
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Photo by Gigin Krishnan / Unsplash

CuboAi

  • Established in 2017, CuboAi created the world’s first baby monitor that integrates AI technology. It ensures newborn safety, tracks sleep patterns, and monitors overall health, with global sales exceeding 150,000 units.

In a world increasingly driven by technological advancements, Taiwan’s startup ecosystem stands as a testament to the nation’s unwavering commitment to innovation. As we look ahead, it’s clear that Taiwan’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to excellence will continue to shine on the global stage, inspiring countless others to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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