隨著越來越多 AI 新創冒出頭，台灣在創業加速器、教育、研究等面向，也呈現蓬勃發展。在創業加速器部分，2010 年成立、自 2018 年 8 月 (AW#17) 起限定招募 AI / Blockchain 新創的 AppWorks Accelerator，目前為止已經招收三期 AI / Blockchain 共 89 個新創，其中有
44 組 AI、11 組 IoT 新創，持續為台灣 AI 生態系挹注新能量。
AppWorks 之外，包括微軟新創加速器 (Microsoft for Startups)、Taiwan AI x Robotics Accelerator 等，皆是以 AI 新創團隊為主要招募對象的創業加速器。台灣人工智慧學校、台灣人工智慧實驗室，則分別是台灣在 AI 教育與研究領域的代表性機構，也期望越來越多的資源會注入 AI 領域的發展。
The Taiwan’s AI Ecosystem Map 19H2 由 AppWorks 製作，每半年更新一次，有任何指教與建議，請 email 至 [email protected]。
Our founders represent innovations in AI and blockchain that are happening across Greater Southeast Asia.
AppWorks Accelerator, the region’s longest-running accelerator with a focus on AI / blockchain, presents Demo Day #19, a showcase of 18 founders from Greater Southeast Asia (ASEAN + Taiwan), who are pushing innovations in AI / IoT and Blockchain in a US$ 3 trillion region.
This founder-focused showcase underpins the case that Taiwan as a startup hub is an integral component of this growth region. Within only 18 months, AppWorks alumni have expanded their presence in GSEA 1.6x, testimony that the accelerator and the country are a launchpad for founders driving business change in a region where population growth is rising 3.5x the pace in Greater China.
The 18 founders pitching today demonstrate experiments in the AI / IoT and Blockchain frontiers that are catalyzing growth in industries from real estate, to finance, to medical science.
A total of 14 AI / IoT startups and four Blockchain startups pitched. Six of those founders are from Taiwan, and the other 12 come from around the world and GSEA. More than half of the founders in this batch are serial entrepreneurs, with many hailing from established tech companies like Google, Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, Agoda, IBM Watson, Initium Media, and PepsiCo.
Having spent four months developing these frontier-shaping technologies in Taiwan, they will be pitching in front of the investors and potential corporate partners from Taiwan and SEA, including investment professionals and executives from Fubon Financial Holdings, Taiwan Mobile, Cathay Life Insurance, Wistron Corporation, Hungtai Group, UDN, FarEasTone, as well as Taiwan’s National Development Council, and many more. The purpose is to provide an opportunity for investment and business collaboration for these founders.
All of the founders pitching today have produced early traction, especially in customer acquisitions. Their products have pushed into new markets and many used Taiwan as a launchpad for potential accelerated growth throughout the region.
Telepod is a smartEV shared scooter and a battery kiosk network, already rolled out in seven markets
Jin-Ni Gan, founder of Telepod, a miniEV mobility startup based in Singapore, has grown her mobility and battery kiosk platform to seven markets in an effort to bring transport efficiency and climate harm reduction to cities in developing SEA markets.
Matters founder Annie Zhang was influenced by her journalism background to help content creators get paid, and remembered, through using blockchain
Annie Zhang, founder of Blockchain startup Matters from Hong Kong, will demonstrate a Blockchain platform that enables content providers to be paid for their content, rather than to have their content and revenue opportunities taken hostage by advertising algorithms and walled social media gardens. She has scaled to over 20,000 customers during her accelerator session.
Shaq Tu, founder of Beseye, has booked giant Tokyo Railways as a client for the startup’s wifi-managed AI cameras, which scan the movement of people near railway tracks to prevent accidents.
SELF TOKEN from Taiwan creates Blockchain digital assets through Ethereum Smart Contracts and is committed to creating an ecosystem of immersive entertainment experiences. Founder Jack Hsu also directed “The Last Thieves”, the world’s first film based on Blockchain. He was nominated this year for the Best New Director in the 56th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
WeavAir is a sensors and analytics company started by Singularity University graduate Dr. Natalia Mykhalova. The company uses AI and IoT sensors to build a recurring revenue business model that helps developers and landlords pinpoint trouble spots in their building control systems. The team have embarked on projects with 12 clients in SEA, including FarEastone and the Airport Authority of Hong Kong.
Arical co-founders Clement Tien (left) and San Wong (right) are using AI to work with companies like HongKong Land to shrink the amount of time it takes to perform real estate market analysis and architectural feasibility studies
Arical, co-founded by Clement Tien and San Wong from Hong Kong, is a platform that “unlocks the potential of property development” by using AI to create “instant” feasibility studies that provide value to investors and communities. Their AI 3-D generation engine enables clients like HongKong Land to spend only a few minutes to map out all feasible possibilities to optimize for the ideal product mix / tenant mix, as they have done recently in a project in Manila, the Philippines. This is an order of magnitude more efficient than the weeks and months it often takes to come up with new proposals.
The construction equipment platform Fourcons was started by founder Felix Hartantio, from Indonesia. Fourcons provides an AI-driven platform for finding, verifying and managing construction equipment. Only one month after launch, they have fulfilled US$11k in orders in several provinces in Indonesia, and they are rushing to fulfill the remaining US$800k, even as they scale to new provinces.
In the area of real estate, Blyng is an AI virtual assistant created by co-founder Julien Priour, which helps agencies cut down on missed opportunities in qualifying inbound leads. The company has secured several real estate agency clients in Europe and in GSEA.
Anthony So, co-founder of OnMyGrad, faced a difficult time after his education and now wants to help other students like his former self understand exactly what they need to do to succeed in careers of their choice
Career development and workforce transition platform OnMyGrad, co-founded by Anthony So, from Hong Kong, works with recruiters to help students prepare for roles in several industries. They have engaged with 3,800 participants and 10+ universities over the course of the accelerator period, and taken in HKD $2 million (US$ 256k) in total revenue in just two months.
KaChick co-founder Peggy Cheung and her fellow co-founder Larry Lam are travelers who want to unite photographers and brands through the capture of beautiful moments with loved ones
KaChick co-founders Peggy Cheung and Larry Lam have built a platform for sourcing authentic photography from over 1,500 amateur and professional photographers, and have taken steps to pair those media assets with brands in the hospitality and entertainment space to drive more engaging marketing and branding campaigns at lower margin cost. They have beta trials in place with regional companies like Dyson, Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, and AIA.
Dent & Co founder (and dentist) Steve Chu will attempt to bring more smiles to the world through a medical services AI chatbot
Other AI startups include Dent & Co, a medical services AI chatbot created by dentist Steve Chu. Fluv, a pet care platform for local pet parents and sitters, is being demonstrated by former PepsiCo marketing staffer Candace Chen.
Mellow, created by first-time founders Chester Szeen and Teresa Chan from Hong Kong, is an app to help young people and families manage finances. It enables children to use their “first money” through debit card usage and parent-regulated accounting. The app aims to grow into a platform targeting a US$2 trillion market, and they have created early development success in Hong Kong and Japan.
Also in the vertical of payments, but focused on Blockchain, is Dapp Pocket, a crypto wallet app for Dapp lovers, created by Anderson Chen. And Portto, a Blockchain startup created by three former members of the crypto company Cobinhood promises to make the KYC and onboarding process for using Blockchain simpler.
AI/IoT startup Whoopee Robot, created by founder Morris Lu, is now operating in five local shops and has served over 10,000 cups of robotically-delivered espresso beverages.
Chien Lee demonstrated his AI-powered PR service SparkAmplify, which delivers an automated public relations system for clients. In one case, the platform generated 127,000 views for Mavin, Inc. during recent press events.
Husband and wife team Dr. Lisa Hsu and Mark Mai built Gigvvy Science to shorten the time it takes to push scientific research into the hands of people who can use it to save lives
Finally, New Zealand-based co-founders Lisa Hsu and Mark Mai will demo Gigvvy Science, a platform for speeding up the sluggish vetting and reviewing of critical science research.
Background and Recap AppWorks Chairman and Partner Jamie Lin said at the opening of the event:
“The twice a year AppWorks Demo Days have always been THE go-to event for investors and corporate leaders to witness firsthand the development of cutting-edge technologies and their business applications that have a GSEA twist as well as meeting future startup stars.
With AW#19, 68% of the founders hail from countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, Ireland, Canada, the US, and China. Of the 31 teams that were admitted to the AW#19 program, 19 are working with AI/IoT, 10 with Blockchain/Crypto, and 2 are incorporating both technologies. What’s more, 23% of founders from this batch are female, which marks one of our highest percentages in recent years.
With the addition of the graduates from AW#19, there are now a total of 376 active startups and 1,113 founders in the AppWorks Ecosystem. Collectively, all companies produced a turnover of US$ 4.97B, an annual increase of 98% compared to the same time last year, and have fostered the placement of 11,162 employees, 1,047 more than the year prior. Altogether, the Ecosystem raised a total of US$ 1.1B, an annual increase of 36%, with an aggregate valuation reaching US$ 4.72B, growing 29% YoY.
While the numbers alone are impressive, the trend of ASEAN+Taiwan is even stronger. Over time this connection continues to mark Taiwan as a launchpad for SEA founders. As we observe today’s pitches, keep in mind that as growth continues to accelerate in this dynamic region, this integral connection will continue to deepen and grow stronger.”
Founding Partner and Chairman of AppWorks Jamie Lin
The State of AppWorks Ecosystem
The State of the AppWorks Startup Ecosystem — 376 active startups; 1,113 founders, and US$ 4.97 billion in value, with over 11,000 jobs created
值得注意的，從本屆新創團隊中，可看到 AI 不斷深入各產業與垂直領域，出現更多創新應用。例如，來自台灣的 Dent&Co，由一群牙醫師共同創辦，協助牙醫診所打造跨 Messenger、Line、WhatsApp 等通訊平台的客服機器人，提供自動提醒回診、診後追蹤、線上約診等服務，降低診所的人力成本與看診爽約率，上線半年來，已獲得破百間牙醫診所使用，服務超過 7 萬人次；來自美國的 Fluv 毛小愛，則透過 AI 系統打造寵物照顧平台，針對臨時需要寵物照顧服務的毛孩家長，媒合經過線上認證的寵物愛心家長協助照顧，上線一週內，就媒合達 1,300 位使用者、完成超過 200 次服務；來自印尼的 FourCons，則以 AI 系統提供挖土機、吊車等重型機具設備的租用媒合服務，上線四個月後，服務已遍佈印尼 8 個省，10 月收到的訂單總值達 80 萬美元。
來自美國的 Fluv 毛小愛，透過 AI 系統打造寵物照顧平台，針對臨時需要寵物照顧服務的毛孩家長，媒合經過線上認證的寵物愛心家長協助照顧。
來自法國的 Blyng，建構 AI 房地產仲介經紀系統；來自紐西蘭的 Gigvvy Science，由一對科學家夫妻共同創辦，運用 AI 與 Machine Learning 技術，提供學術論文發表平台，致力提升科學論文的發表效率與品質；來自美國的 SparkAmplify，則以 AI 系統推薦線上記者的模式，協助企業與品牌進行 PR 推廣。
在本屆來自香港的新創團隊中，同樣也可發現各種結合 AI 技術的創新服務。例如，KaChick 建立以 AI 驅動的平台，串連起亞洲遊客以及在地攝影師，以效率更高、品質更佳、費用更低的方式，捕捉旅遊的精彩瞬間，2018 年上線以來，已建立起涵蓋 60 個城市、超過 2,000 位攝影師的服務網絡；Arical 則建立針對房地產開發投資的 AI 資訊分析平台；OnMyGrad 則運用 AI 技術，建立針對大學畢業生的職涯進修的教育平台；Mellow 的 App，則可協助父母培養小孩的金錢觀念與責任感。
來自香港的 KaChick 建立以 AI 驅動的平台，串連起亞洲遊客以及在地攝影師，以效率更高、品質更佳、費用更低的方式，捕捉旅遊的精彩瞬間。
若你也想登上 AppWorks Demo Day 的千人大舞台，展現自己的產品與商業模式，AppWorks Accelerator 現正招收 AI / IoT 與 Blockchain 團隊，歡迎加入我們。
以下是將在 AppWorks Demo Day #19 出場的 18 支新創團隊簡介：
AppWorks Demo Day #19 will take place this afternoon. If you’re unable to physically attend the event, you can catch the Livestream on the AppWorks Facebook Page.
If you are an AI / IoT or Blockchain startup founder and also excited about the opportunity to pitch your product and business idea to over 1,000 people on the AppWorks Demo Day stage, join us by applying to AppWorks Accelerator. We look forward to receiving your application!
The following are brief introductions of the 18 startup teams at AppWorks Demo Day #19:
1. Telepod
Urban mobility with a network of swappable battery kiosks.
Smart sensor and predictive analytics that helps building owners and service providers save energy, improve indoor air quality & prevent equipment failure.
關於電子商務、乃至於近期衍生的「全通路」營運模式，對實體零售造成的影響，外界已經有太多觀察與論述。事實上，數據為大型網路平台帶來的優勢，意味著平台業者能夠輕易切入並控制所有終端消費通路，線上通路也毫無例外。Facebook
陸續在全球各地推出 Marketplace
拍賣商城、Google 也讓用戶逐漸習慣使用 Book
On Google 線上訂房服務，諸如此類大型平台與身為合作廠商的新創團隊，從昔日盟友成為競爭對手的例子，屢見不鮮，儼然是實體零售天王
Costco 建立自有品牌 Kirkland Signature 成功故事的翻版。新創團隊暫時享有平台提供的通路與廣告服務、減輕接觸潛在消費者的初期困境，卻是將寶貴的數據貢獻給平台，反而成為平台直接競爭的助力。
雖然這樣的網路平台競爭新法尚未實施，歐盟執委會卻相當罕見以數據的角度切入，調查
Amazon 是否基於中介者與賣家的雙重角色 (Dual Role)，藉由獲取其他賣家的銷售數據，優化自身在產品推薦欄位的排序，從而違反現行 TFEU
(Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union，歐盟運作方式條約) 有關「限制競爭合約條款」與「濫用市場地位」的競爭法規範。
姑不論這些新法與調查行動能否真正處理平台業者「球員兼裁判」的問題，大型平台還有許多其他合法措施，也可能嚴重影響新創團隊的日常運作。例如，Google
近期更新「BERT」(Bidirectional
Encoder Representations from Transformers) 開源系統，透過較長查詢字串
(Longer Query String) 強化自然語言在搜尋系統的作用，以求更深入了解使用者的需求、情境與脈絡，卻可能徹底顛覆團隊以關鍵字
(Keyword) 為基礎長期建立的 SEO (Search Engine Optimization) 成效。
然而，就像洗衣精與洗面乳，雖然本質上都是界面活性劑的化工產品，卻有著截然不同的配方和功用。同樣的，在每一個不同的垂直應用領域，對於數據以及
AI 數據分析的需求，也各自有別，交通應用強調即時性、醫療應用強調精準性、內容應用強調社群性、商品推薦強調個人化等等，同樣都是「數據」，在不同的應用領域，卻能展現不同的智慧，端看團隊的洞見與取捨。
Google 在 AI 領域，無疑掌握強大的「數據支配地位」，Nest 也早已是智慧家居裝置的先行者；Umbo
CV 關注產業懸而未決的痛點與自身強項，堅持走一條新路，證明了乘著 AI 的大趨勢、大潮流，未必意味著必須與網路巨頭正面對決。正因為數據優勢不在自己手中，新創團隊更應該認清，唯有降低對網路平台的依賴，這些數據，才能真正成為你的智慧，並產生價值。
三、AI 的問題可以從 Blockchain 找方法：
AI 應用日趨廣泛，衍生惡意造假、演算法歧視等問題，已經有許多開發者提出更高明的
AI 技術加以制衡。AI 作為數位經濟的推進器，也使得企業對數據的追逐永遠無法停歇，從而引發數據壟斷的議題。
此情此景，在秉持自由開放精神的 Internet 技術誕生五十週年，以及
World Wide Web 標準推出三十年後的今天看來，無疑是莫大的諷刺。World Wide Web 發明人 Tim Berners-Lee 也點名大型網路平台，系統性追求廣告獲利而犧牲使用者價值，是造成網路失能的禍首之一，為此，他透過社群力量發起「A
Contract for the Web」宣言，明確納入反壟斷執法的訴求，也積極開發
Solid 平台，作為對 Facebook 隱私問題的回應。
Internet 的出現，讓年輕世代的創業者，可以在資源有限的情況下，有機會打破傳統產業根深蒂固的尋租與裙帶關係，藉由科技與商業模式的創新，為用戶創造全新的價值。Facebook、Apple、Amazon、Google
為我們演示了如何從無到有，以短短10、20 年時間，成功擠身全球最有價值企業名單，搶下持續近半世紀由石油、電信、藥廠宰制的衛冕者寶座。
