Taiwan and Phoenix, Arizona, yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at expanding cooperation on start-up innovation in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Taipei, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego highlighted her background in business administration, saying it ensures that she is able to support the growth of Taiwanese start-ups in her city.
“We’ll help you grow your business,” she said.
Photo courtesy of the National Development Council
“You’ll also, thanks to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) Arizona, have access to great Taiwanese food, Taiwanese banks, doctors who speak Mandarin,” she said. “It can be all the comforts of home, but access to the markets of the United States.”
Gallego cited JelloX Biotech Inc (捷絡生技), a Taiwanese start-up specializing in 3D digital pathology imaging and AI analysis platforms, as an example of successful operations in Phoenix.
Its technologies can be applied in a range of settings, including improving the efficiency of colon cancer detection, she said.
JelloX has begun operations at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, which offers a well-developed accelerator program, she added.
The agreement, titled the “Taiwan-Phoenix Strategic Technology Partnership,” was signed by Startup Island Taiwan, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Phoenix, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Tesoro VC.
The MOU aims to help US start-ups connect with Taiwan’s semiconductor research and development (R&D) and manufacturing ecosystem, while supporting Taiwanese start-ups in using Phoenix as a foothold and launchpad to enter the US market, Startup Island Taiwan said.
It also seeks to encourage start-ups from both sides to participate in accelerators, incubators and soft-landing programs.
Startup Island Taiwan is a partnership between the government and a group of start-ups aimed at helping Taiwanese start-ups boost their international presence.
The initiative is to focus on AI, semiconductors and advanced packaging, physical AI intelligent systems, advanced manufacturing, photonics, dual-use technologies, and AI-enabled healthcare applications, Startup Island Taiwan said.
The new MOU builds on an earlier agreement signed in 2023 between Startup Island Taiwan and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, which focused on facilitating information exchanges on industry and investment projects, organizing joint business missions, promoting soft-landing opportunities for Taiwanese start-ups and advancing joint initiatives.
Targeted fields under that agreement included cybersecurity, green energy technology, 5G, information and communications technology, and semiconductors.
National Development Council Deputy Minister Jan Fang-guan (詹方冠) said the successful expansion of several Taiwanese start-ups in Phoenix since 2024 demonstrates that “combining Taiwan’s R&D power with Phoenix’s market and clinical environment is a win-win strategy.”
Phoenix is home to two TSMC wafer fabs, with four more planned under a US$165 billion investment package — the largest single foreign direct investment in US history.
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