With Help from Yushan Ventures, Startup Labs Launches in Taiwan

Startup Labs is a three week incubation program that provides seed capital, mentoring, and technical support to startups to help them validate their team and business model to later stage investors.

Selected teams in Taiwan will be picked and given $30,000 USD to go through the three week program. And for Taiwan, the Startup Labs program will start next year on February 10th.

Of course, Startup Labs in Taiwan can’t be a reality without local support. Yushan Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm in Taiwan, is one the key drivers. Other supporters/sponsors include Microsoft BizSpark Taiwan,Taiwan’s largest B2B service company Enspyre, Taiwan Professional Group, Business Next, and Startup Digest. Speaking from personal experience on running events/programs, I understand how hard it is to get sponsors. So kudos to those who poured in resources to make Startup Labs possible in Taiwan.

Besides Startup Labs, some of our readers might remember that Yushan Ventures is also the organization behind the first Startup Weekend program in Taiwan. A lot of emphasis seems to be placed on Taiwan. But why? Yushan Ventures managing director Volker Heistermann remarked:

We believe Taiwan’s competitive advantage lies in its technological prowess, as well as its location between the East and West and mainland China. There is a wealth of untapped talent to be found here. Startup Labs will attempt to unlock some of that talent.

Having studied for a period at one of the best engineering schools in Taiwan, I can affirm that Taiwan does have a lot of talent — both in hardware and software. The only problem is that most Taiwanese entrepreneurs can’t communicate well in English and that restricts many to focus just on the local market. However, Taiwanese do have an advantage over the rest if they ever want to expand to China. But the mindset of the Taiwanese may hinder that progression… As many of you know/feel, there’s a rivalry between China and Taiwan. So much so that the rivalry has affected the younger generation of Taiwanese.

Don’t take me wrong on this. It’s not at all my interest to bash Taiwan. Every country has its own challenges, including my homeland, Singapore. We’re said to be uncreative, unfortunately. There isn’t really a quick solution to all these problems. But as an entrepreneur, it is your job to make your startup a success regardless of what barriers you face!