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Collaboration

The 2019 Deep Tech Challenge ITIC and Applied Ventures Co-host a Startup Competition

ITIC and Applied Ventures co-organized the 2019 Deep Tech Challenge in Taipei on November 12, 2019.

ITIC and Applied Ventures co-organized the 2019 Deep Tech Challenge in Taipei on November 12, 2019.

ITRI and Applied Materials’ venture capital arms, Industrial Technology Investment Corporation (ITIC) and Applied Ventures, jointly held the 2019 Deep Tech Challenge in Taipei on November 12. This competition is open to startups that work in the fields of semiconductors, AI, autonomous vehicles, display technologies, 3D printing, and life sciences, which focus on “Deep Tech”—substantial scientific advances and high-tech engineering innovation. Teams that place in the top three have the opportunity to receive a cash prize, and may be considered for venture capital investment from Applied Ventures or ITIC.

Dr. Omkaram (Om) Nalamasu, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Materials, Inc. and President of Applied Ventures, LLC, commented that Applied Ventures is very pleased to co-host this competition with ITIC in Taiwan and believes that holding events like this will facilitate new opportunities for venture capital and collaboration. The pitches submitted by nearly 70 startup teams are quite impressive, he said, adding that this reflects the strong drive to innovate here. He further stressed that Applied Ventures brings a broad range of technical and industrial expertise to the companies it invests in, helping them achieve even faster product development and finding means to enter the global market.

ITRI President Edwin Liu emphasized the significance of this event. “This cooperation promotes the integration of technology and capital markets,” he said. He indicated that the parent organizations behind the organizers, ITRI and Applied Materials, each have profound technical capacities, which can help the startups to gain international visibility and to have opportunities to obtain funding through such a competition. He encouraged young people to not be afraid of failure, since failure is an inevitable step on the path to success. He also told entrepreneurs that the short-term market is tantamount to a beauty pageant, while the long-term market is about weightlifting. “I hope all the startup teams have great physiques and can ultimately be strong enough to lift weights,” he said.

ITIC President Hans Y.C. Tai furthermore commented that quite a few Taiwanese entrepreneurs have technology and plans, but lack the opportunities to connect with external resources, which leads to loss of further opportunities for development. We believe that this pitch event will inspire more talents to engage in innovation and tap into global corporate resources, he said. ITIC also hopes to hold similar innovation competitions in Taiwan in the future on a regular basis, thereby creating more opportunities for contact between investors and the academic and industrial sectors, to yield greater international attention and resources, he stated.

HsinLight Inc. won the gold medal at the 2019 Deep Tech Challenge.

HsinLight Inc. won the gold medal at the 2019 Deep Tech Challenge.

The 2019 Deep Tech Challenge attracted about 70 teams overall, and 10 startups made it to the finals to present pitches on their respective projects. In the end, the jury awarded the gold medal distinction to HsinLight Inc., which was founded in 2018 and specializes in quantum dots technology. The silver and bronze medals went to Tanvas Inc., which focuses on research of multi-touch technologies, and Molsentech, a biochip inspection platform developer. The competition also presented a special academic award to Tensor Tech, which provides satellite control services. This honor seeks to recognize the contribution by school teams in the hope of sparking interest among students to launch startups and develop unique technologies.

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