The GRETAI Securities Market (GTSM, 櫃檯買賣中心), which operates the local over-the-counter market, yesterday said it is to launch an incubation board on Friday next week to help small start-up companies raise funds.
About 20 companies are expected to be listed on the incubation board on the first day of the launch, the GTSM said.
The incubation board is to be similar to Hong Kong’s Growth Enterprise Market, Singapore’s Catalist board and London’s AIM board, with the aim of helping fast-growing start-ups to gain access to funding.
The 20 companies would come from a wide range of sectors, such as biotech, farming, electronics as well as cultural and creative industries, GTSM chairman Wu Sou-shan (吳壽山) said, adding that the GTSM has a goal of having 70 small start-ups listed on the incubation board next year.
GTSM president Lee Chi-hsien (李啟賢) said the firms on the incubation board are small in capital size but find it difficult to find funding to develop and expand their creative ideals.
Therefore, a company eligible to raise funds on the incubation board would be capitalized at no more than NT$50 million (US$1.67 million).
As of the end of July, the number of companies capitalized at between NT$1 million, and NT$10 million hit 390,000, accounting for 64 percent of enterprises, the GTSM said.
The number of local companies capitalized at between NT$10 million and NT$50 million was 110,000, making up 18 percent of the total, according to the exchange.
The GTSM said investors on the incubation board would be limited to institutional investors with more than NT$50 million in financial assets, while each of retail investors on the board will be requested to have no less than NT$30 million in financial assets.
Hua Nan Venture Capital Co (華南創投) is one of the potential investors that has shown interest in such small start-ups, chairman Derek Chang (張雲鵬) said yesterday, after he announced the consolidation between Hua Nan Venture Capital and Hua Nan Asset Management Co (華南管理顧問).
The two units under state-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控) were merged into one entity to cut operation costs and strengthen earning.
Chang said the new entity would maintain its capitalization at NT$2 billion and aims to target small and medium-sized businesses, including those qualified to raise capital via the forthcoming incubation board.
Additional reporting by Crystal Hsu
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