CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator Fund (“Innovation Fund”) announced that it had been awarded with LINE’s “Best Corporate Partner of the Year” in recognition of its collaborative contribution to the startup community. The Innovation Fund, set up by CDIB Capital Group, is committed to building a platform for startups to access international capital markets, while providing resources to accelerate growth and expansion into global markets.
Since its inception in 2017, the Innovation Fund has been engaged in building an investment portfolio targeting startups of cloud computing, IoT (Internet of Things), mobile internet or next-generation e-commerce, while offering resources and services through the CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator (“CCIA”) platform. Mr. Ryan Kuo, President of CCIA, points out that startups’ most urgent need is access to the international ecosystem, which is the hardest of all things to obtain. He sheds light on the advantages that CCIA provides, including leveraging its parent company CDF’s 60 years of experience as a venture capital investor, engaging strategic partners like LINE and Qualcomm in collaborative projects to unleash valuable global corporate resources and gain insight into industrial R&D, and connecting startups in Taiwan with the global community.
The partnership with LINE exemplifies how CCIA is integral to startups’ journey of growth. CCIA and LINE have jointly rolled out “LINE PROTOSTAR” that helps startups in Taiwan build applications and services through LINE’s platform and technologies to expand mobile user bases with stronger user loyalty since 2015. A strong partnership with CCIA provides PROTOSTARS insight into the many key aspects of how to build a successful business, including ongoing evaluation and business model validation. Startups can access to LINE’s technologies, CCIA’s mentorship on fundraising and entrepreneurship, and, most importantly, guidance needed at every turn of the business journey.
Kuo also shares how Qualcomm, the world’s pioneer in wireless mobile communication technology, contributes to empowering Taiwanese start-ups on the global stage. Qualcomm is committed to raising the competitiveness of its partners across the world with its advanced technologies, while supporting the development of industry ecosystems. “Qualcomm Innovate in Taiwan Challenge (QITC)” was introduced in 2019 to boost growth for Taiwan’s ICT ecosystem. In addition to a grant awarded to each selected start-up, the Challenge offers coaching and technical training, provides access to world-class engineering resources for product development, and encourages startups' IP protection of inventions through patent filing. In 2020, alongside with CCIA, Qualcomm rolled out services to give selected startups access to workshops and training on a range of topics, such as gaining an insight into how venture capital evaluates startups as well as global industry trends.
Both LINE and Qualcomm are multinational corporations as well as business leaders which funnel corporate resources to support Taiwanese startups to succeed in overseas markets. LINE offers entrepreneurship experiences, accounting and financial courses while Qualcomm is committed to upgrading the R&D capacity and product competitiveness of Taiwanese entrepreneurs to accelerate their leap to the world stage. In summary, Kuo says CCIA will continue to liaise local startups with international resources for future takeoff.
