The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday released the nation’s first white paper on the development of start-ups in Taiwan, including the domestic environment, recent policy achievements, and an overview of the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem.
As of the end of last year, 9,576 Taiwanese companies were listed on FINDIT, a government-backed start-up information platform, the ministry said in a statement.
The diverse products and services offered by these start-ups show the strong foundation the government has built for entrepreneurship, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
According to Taiwan’s regulations, a start-up is a business that has a paid-in capital of less than NT$100 million (US$3.02 million), or hires less than 200 employees on a regular basis, and has been established for less than eight years.
The companies listed on FINDIT operate in a diverse range of businesses, including healthcare, media and entertainment, food and beverage, consumer goods, hardware manufacturing and software, the ministry said.
The most rapid growth of start-ups is in the fields of digital solutions and transformation with artificial intelligence (AI) and software, energy, sustainability and environment, the ministry said.
This reflected the government’s targeted support for strategic areas, including digital transformation, healthcare, semiconductors and AI, it said.
Energy, biotechnology and healthcare start-ups in Taiwan have been the most favored by investors, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, green energy, sustainability and carbon reduction business saw the largest increase in funding, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in the prologue of the white paper.
In 2023, energy start-ups attracted US$1.071 billion in investment thanks to the demand for energy saving, power storage, and power management solutions, the white paper said.
Companies in the biotechnology and health business received US$564 million in funding in 2023, FINDIT data showed.
Taiwanese start-ups generally place importance on research and development, as nearly 70 of them have technical staff and operate with technology development as their core business, the ministry said.
The white paper also has information regarding government support available to entrepreneurs, including subsidies, loans, investments and help attending trade events, the ministry said.
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