Taiwanese VC firm raises $13.5m in final close of inaugural seed fund

Hive Ventures, a VC firm that aims to develop Taiwanese-led startups, raised US$13.5 million in the final close of its inaugural seed fund to boost the adoption of artificial intelligence innovations across Taiwan and Asia.

Hive Ventures’ founders at the Galaxy Summit 2021 / Source: Hive Ventures

Prominent investors in the fund include the National Development Fund (NDF) of Taiwan, the investment arms of MiTAC-Synnex Group, Unitech Electronics, and GMI Technology.

The round also counts other notable investors like Silicon Valley investor and Acorn Campus Ventures founding partner Wufu Chen and Hong Lu, co-founder of UTStarcom and founding chairman of SoftBank China Venture Capital.

Family offices of semiconductor businesses and tech entrepreneurs from Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US also participated in the fund.

Founded in 2018, Hive Ventures will use the funds to invest in nearly 20 early-stage AI and data startups and incubate them through partnerships with leading Taiwanese semiconductor and high-tech manufacturing groups and enterprises.

The initiative will be aimed at developing real-world, enterprise-focused AI innovations and applications across Asia, especially for emerging sectors like smart manufacturing and smart enterprises.

The NDF’s latest investment into Hive Ventures continues the collaborations of both organizations in supporting Taiwanese technological and entrepreneurial talent.

Previously, Hive Ventures invested alongside NDF’s Business Angel Investment Program, which helps fund startups based in Taiwan or with strong links to the island. The startups that the two firms invested in include enterprise data virtualization provider CannerData, social data company PicSee, as well as technology, online coding, and AI learning platform Alpha Camp.

Besides these startups, some of Hive Ventures’ early investments were in beverage automation solution provider Botrista, lifestyle-as-a-Service firm Roehl, and machine learning platform company InfuseAI, among others.