Positive on AI application outlook, CDIB Capital Group increases investment in smart manufacturing, enables Taiwanese AI startup to enter Southeast Asia

Oct 30, 2019
Press Release

China Development Financial (hereinafter CDF) said today (October 30th) that the CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator, established by CDIB Capital Group, is Taiwanese startups’ best partner, which provides them with one-stop services combined with abundant resources from KPMG to help export startups’ top-quality technology and services overseas. Melanie Nan, Senior Executive Vice President of CDIB Capital Group (hereinafter CDIB), stressed her optimism about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in smart manufacturing with the arrival of Industry 4.0. Nan added that CloudMile, a Taiwanese AI startup, not only has introduced its AI and cloud technology into the local traditional industry but also exported it to Southeast Asia.

Nan further said the one-stop service platform integrates CDIB’s investment experience with strategic partners’ resources. Take KPMG Startups & Innovation Service Team, for example. CDIB and the team have jointly organized the Startup Boot Camp for five consecutive years, and the number of participating startups has exceeded 100. The Startup Boot Camp, which finished in 2H19, targeted startups engaged in smart manufacturing and smart retail.

CDIB as an investor attended the camp and shared with participants its successful fundraising experience. Daisy Kuo, Head of Startups & Innovation Service of KPMG, emphasized the importance of building an ecosystem with enterprises that can offer complementary services when engaging in smart manufacturing. Besides investing in R&D and business development, Kuo also noted both solutions and customized services must go hand in hand, with solutions playing a leading role, so as to accommodate cash flows, the flexibility of solution and expand the client base.

CDIB has invested in a number of early-stage startups, from media, advertising, e-commerce platforms to AI applications. In addition to assessing the niche of a team’s technology, market demand, sales channels and timing, CDIB also links investees to each other through the Innovation Accelerator. CloudMile, for example, has introduced its technology into the manufacturing, medical service, financial service, digital marketing and e-commerce during its two-year history, and many of them are CDIB’s investees. Thus, a startup ecosystem among investees has been established.

Spencer Liu, founder and CEO of CloudMile, shared the experience of continuously developing AI or cloud applications that can truly solve business problems through close collaboration between his team and customers. Coupled with the company’s deep cultivation in technology, it successfully helped a textile client become the first in Taiwan to introduce Google Cloud AI into the traditional industry. The cloud application has shortened the time of searching for fabrics in the database for its overseas designers from 1.5-3.0 months (when it relied on human labor to do the work) to just 2-3 days with regards to overseas orders, and cut the lead time by 25%.

Ryan Kuo, President of the CDIB Capital Innovation Accelerator Fund, emphasized the Innovation Accelerator’s continuous efforts in linking all sorts of resources for startups, including integrating the virtual with the physical, such as physical spaces for professional courses, startup mentors, business matching and startup networks. Besides, Taiwanese startups are matched with international capital and markets to enhance their values for growth.

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