The Ministry of Science and Technology yesterday hailed the nation’s “top 10 coolest technology start-ups” — five of which are developing artificial intelligence (AI) — and said that their aggregate funding has reached US$608 million.
The 10 start-ups were selected out of 122 candidates by 22 industrial experts and investors, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hsu Yu-chin (許有進) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that the ministry hoped to inspire innovation in local businesses with the selection.
The AI developers in the list are Appier Inc (沛星互動科技), CloudMile Ltd (萬里雲互聯), MoBagel Inc (行動貝果), Umbo CV (盾心科技) and Viscovery Pte Ltd (創意引睛).
The nation’s cumulative strength in local industries, such as semiconductor manufacturing, integrated circuit (IC) design and “smart” machines paves the way for it to participate in the booming AI industry, Hsu said, adding that AI is also the key to the nation’s industrial upgrade.
CloudMile is Google Cloud Platform’s only partner in Asia and its new AI technology for fabric recognition has been introduced in the local textile industry, company founder and executive director Spencer Liu (劉永信) said.
Electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) and “smart” helmet maker Jarvish’s (酷設工坊) products were heralded as outstanding examples of Internet of Things (IOT) technology.
Despite some people’s doubts about electric vehicles, sales of Gogoro scooters have reached 60,000 over the past three years, company project manager Jason Lin (林立生) said, adding that the vehicles’ accumulated mileage amounts to 322 million kilometers — or 5,000 trips around the Earth.
The remaining three start-ups that were honored are iStaging Corp (愛實境), a developer of augmented reality and virtual reality (VR) applications, and digital medical service suppliers Maisense Inc (美盛醫電) and Health2Sync Co (智抗糖).
In June, the ministry would open a “business incubator base” at the Taipei Arena, named the Taiwan Tech Arena, at which foreign incubators are to help local entrepreneurs explore new business models, Hsu added.
French Tech Taiwan, one of France’s overseas technological hubs, has agreed to enter the base, French Office in Taipei Director Benoit Guidee said on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan and Franceshould increase collaboration on technology.
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