Operated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center provides financial, management and manufacturing assistance to the fledgling firms. It also pairs them with accelerators such as CoinX, Founders Space, Plug and Play Tech Center and Wearable World Labs, as well as venture capitalists like H&Q Asia Pacific, SVT Angels and WI Harper Group.
“TIEC represents the next step in the government’s international entrepreneurship development scheme,” MOST Minister Shyu Jyuo-min said. “The facility is a one-stop shop when it comes to breaking into the high-tech region in California, and also offers selected startups grants of up to US$20,000 in living expenses.”
According to Shyu, the center follows recently established Taiwan Rapid Innovation Prototyping League for Entrepreneurs and is to be complemented by a US$300 million Taiwan Silicon Valley Fund channeling public-private sector resources into potential-laden projects.
Taiwan is the first Asian nation and the ninth worldwide to set up a bridging initiative for local firms seeking a foothold in Silicon Valley. The others are Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. (YHC-JSM)
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