Cryptocurrency exchange MaiCoin Ltd (現代財富科技) led the list of Taiwan’s top 10 emerging technology-focused start-ups based on its value and growth potential, a joint study released by HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) and KPMG yesterday showed.
MaiCoin is followed by gaming platform 4Gamers Entertainment Inc (就肆電競), blockchain service provider OwlTing Group (奧丁丁), online booking platform FunNow (曙客) and artificial intelligence company FaceHeart Corp (鉅怡智慧), the bank said.
Ranking from sixth to 10th are digital paper provider Linfiny Corp (元力電紙平台), PChomePay Electronic Payment Co (支付連), digital media company iKala Interactive Media Inc (愛卡拉), virtual fitting solution provider Style.me Co (唯衣時尚) and augmented reality company Oomii Inc (荷魯視科技), it said.
Photo courtesy of MaiCoin Ltd
Emerging companies are defined as those whose estimated valuation is lower than US$500 million, HSBC Taiwan said.
The ranking is based on the companies’ valuation, the funds they have raised, their importance in the local market and growth potential in the international market, it said.
“Taiwan is a champion market for cryptocurrency, but at present it’s not a cryptohaven like Singapore. MaiCoin has approximately a 70 percent market share of cryptobrokerages and exchanges in Taiwan,” MaiCoin chef executive officer Alex Liu (劉世偉) said.
Asked what drives cryptocurrency adoption, Liu said: “Crypto will have a lot of volatility, but it will appreciate over the long term. Generation Z and younger people are less interested in stocks and drinking wine, but they are really into crypto.”
So far, Taiwan had produced three unicorns, and the highest profile is artificial intelligence firm Appier Group Inc (沛星), which raised US$130 million in March last year when it listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, HSBC Taiwan said.
While official support for start-ups is strong, corporate funding plays a bigger role for start-ups in Taiwan than in most locations, accounting for nearly half of venture capital investment, compared with a global average of about one-quarter, the bank said.
However, with other sources increasing, early-stage start-ups can now secure funds far more easily than in the past, and the average amount of funding for start-ups has grown to the same scale as that in other countries, it said.
“In the past, low valuations have been a pain point. However, now more funds are flowing into early-stage start-ups, so innovative firms can get funds far more easily,” HSBC Taiwan said.
However, emerging Taiwanese companies still hold a smaller share that their peers in other countries — only 0.4 percent start-ups originated from Taiwan, compared with 32.8 percent in China, 30.1 percent in India and 12.7 percent in Japan, it said.
The combined value of the top 10 emerging companies in Taiwan totaled about US$65 million, compared with Chinese companies with US$5 billion, Indian firms with US$4.6 billion and Japanese peers with US$3.5 billion, it said.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS