The National Development Council on Tuesday presented nine startups that will represent Taiwan’s entrepreneurship power internationally. The businesses encompass a wide variety of innovation in sectors ranging from travel to blockchain. Moving forward, the NDC will assist these startups in making a name for themselves outside Taiwan, and increase Taiwan’s visibility around the world.The National Development Council recently created Startup Island Taiwan: a joint branding effort with local startup companies to promote Taiwan’s startup ecosystem. Among its projects is the Next Big plan, which has nominated nine startups as representatives of Taiwan’s entrepreneurial power. The NDC presented the project’s lineup at an event on Tuesday, which was also attended by President Tsai Ing-wen.Tsai Ing-wenPresidentThe nine startups selected this year make up Taiwan’s first startup national team. They are a model for future generations to follow. The fields they cover include artificial intelligence, green energy, e-commerce, travel and blockchain. It shows Taiwan’s startups are developing in very diverse directions.The nine startups include: leading electric scooter brand Gogoro, online travel platform KKday, livestreaming and multimedia platform 17Live and omnichannel commerce platform 91APP. The firms have been brought together to promote the Startup Island Taiwan brand. Moving forward, the government will assist to market them overseas and help them expand into international markets.Kung Ming-hsiinNational Development CouncilOver the past few years, the World Economic Forum has ranked us as one of its four highest-rated super innovators in the world. That’s two countries in Europe, one in America and one in Asia, which is us. As for the next generation startup representatives or groups, where or what exactly they are – today we can see the upcoming trends and phenomena. The first batch of startup representatives will bring the Taiwan brand to the world, with support from the NDC. The program is a way to let the world know that Taiwan is not just about semiconductors, but also about innovation across a broad range of fields.
