Cryptocurrency exchange MaiCoin Ltd (現代財富科技) led the list of Taiwan’s top 10 emerging technology-focused start-ups based on its value and growth potential, a joint study released by HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) and KPMG yesterday showed.
MaiCoin is followed by gaming platform 4Gamers Entertainment Inc (就肆電競), blockchain service provider OwlTing Group (奧丁丁), online booking platform FunNow (曙客) and artificial intelligence company FaceHeart Corp (鉅怡智慧), the bank said.
Ranking from sixth to 10th are digital paper provider Linfiny Corp (元力電紙平台), PChomePay Electronic Payment Co (支付連), digital media company iKala Interactive Media Inc (愛卡拉), virtual fitting solution provider Style.me Co (唯衣時尚) and augmented reality company Oomii Inc (荷魯視科技), it said.
Photo courtesy of MaiCoin Ltd
Emerging companies are defined as those whose estimated valuation is lower than US$500 million, HSBC Taiwan said.
The ranking is based on the companies’ valuation, the funds they have raised, their importance in the local market and growth potential in the international market, it said.
“Taiwan is a champion market for cryptocurrency, but at present it’s not a cryptohaven like Singapore. MaiCoin has approximately a 70 percent market share of cryptobrokerages and exchanges in Taiwan,” MaiCoin chef executive officer Alex Liu (劉世偉) said.
Asked what drives cryptocurrency adoption, Liu said: “Crypto will have a lot of volatility, but it will appreciate over the long term. Generation Z and younger people are less interested in stocks and drinking wine, but they are really into crypto.”
So far, Taiwan had produced three unicorns, and the highest profile is artificial intelligence firm Appier Group Inc (沛星), which raised US$130 million in March last year when it listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, HSBC Taiwan said.
While official support for start-ups is strong, corporate funding plays a bigger role for start-ups in Taiwan than in most locations, accounting for nearly half of venture capital investment, compared with a global average of about one-quarter, the bank said.
However, with other sources increasing, early-stage start-ups can now secure funds far more easily than in the past, and the average amount of funding for start-ups has grown to the same scale as that in other countries, it said.
“In the past, low valuations have been a pain point. However, now more funds are flowing into early-stage start-ups, so innovative firms can get funds far more easily,” HSBC Taiwan said.
However, emerging Taiwanese companies still hold a smaller share that their peers in other countries — only 0.4 percent start-ups originated from Taiwan, compared with 32.8 percent in China, 30.1 percent in India and 12.7 percent in Japan, it said.
The combined value of the top 10 emerging companies in Taiwan totaled about US$65 million, compared with Chinese companies with US$5 billion, Indian firms with US$4.6 billion and Japanese peers with US$3.5 billion, it said.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS