Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan has partnered with a global venture capital firm to launch the TTA Accelerator Programme. This initiative aims to accelerate the development of local and international startups in Taiwan, leading to the international growth of the startup ecosystem in the region.
The inaugural Programme is part of TTA’s larger objective to further scale up Taiwan’s startup ecosystem, which has been ranked 7th in the Asia-Pacific region and 30th globally in terms of ecosystem strength. The Programme is also designed to improve outcomes for Taiwan-based startups through capital commitment.
As a new era prioritises greater innovation, inclusiveness and sustainability for all people and businesses, Taiwan must now harness the transformative power of technological innovation. As with Taiwan’s prior technological achievements, this can only be done by improving the synergy between local and international ecosystem stakeholders.
TTA is poised to onboard the right talents into Taiwan’s startup hub and raise the ability of Taiwan-based innovations to make a real difference on the global stage. An accelerator programme is specifically designed to help local startups think and go global. This project also brings some of the world’s most innovative startups here to foster collaborative innovations that can create global impact.
Under the Programme, there will be a series of workshops aimed at introducing startups’ global growth curriculum to local and international startups and will be selecting 20 growth-stage startups to participate in an 8-week long accelerator program focusing on growth and globalisation. Participating startups will enjoy ongoing access to a global network of mentors, founders, and industry stakeholders. Adding to the globalisation aspect of this program is the market access component, they will also select international startups that are interested in expanding in Taiwan to participate in this programme.
According to a page, the three criteria for the accelerator include startups that are tech-focused or tech-enabled, startups that are at the pre-seed or seed stages with a functional prototype with early traction, and startups that have the potential to address global markets.
These are three phases of the programme:
- Phase 1: Foundations of Growth
Foundational programming to cover identifying product-market fit, growth marketing fundamentals, developing ideal customer profiles, and creating an effective one-liner.
- Phase 2: Acceleration
Deep-dive into growth experiments, customer interviews, and weekly 1:1 meetings with mentors from 500 Startups’ extensive network across industries.
- Phase 3: Presentation Preparation
Startups will be equipped with capital attraction best practices and will learn to develop an effective presentation to partners and industry stakeholders in the region at Startup Showcase.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, TTA) aims to help Taiwan startups overcome the obstacles caused by the pandemic by actively leading startups to seize international business opportunities through digital connections. Due to reduced operations or shut down in the global market due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TTA actively utilises digital connections to continually seize post-pandemic business opportunities for Taiwan startups. Although the pandemic has stalled face-to-face business meetings, it is also a turning point for developing digital service and technology.
TTA grasps this opportunity to embrace a new startup assistance model. Not only have online mentor office hours to ensure continuing support for the teams. It has also compiled comprehensive relief resources for startups to respond to the pandemic.
Taiwan startups have gained worldwide recognition as five Taiwan startups have brought home four winning awards. Through a virtual networking platform, TTA also provides a gateway for global enterprises and investors to engage with Taiwan’s technology resources.
