Taiwan’s leading e-scooter sharing startup WeMo Scooter announced that it has successfully closed a multi-million dollar Series A funding round led by AppWorks, its first investment into Taiwan’s burgeoning smart mobility sector. WeMo Scooter will use this round of financing to continue growing its service coverage for riders in key cities across Taiwan, while also laying the seeds for Southeast Asia expansion. Having now recorded millions of successful rides in Taiwan with its proprietary electric vehicle fleet management system, the company is uniquely positioned to help countries across the region accelerate the transition to smart cities. In support of its international ambitions, the company plans to use the recently raised … read more
137 results found for: demo day
Jun Wakabayashi, Analyst (若林純 / 分析師) Jun is an Analyst covering both AppWorks Accelerator and Greater Southeast Asia. Born and bred in America, Jun brings a wealth of international experience to AppWorks. He spent the last several years before joining AppWorks working for Focus Reports, where he conducted sector-based market research and interviewed high-level government leaders and industry executives across the globe. He’s now lived in 7 countries outside US and Taiwan, while traveling to upwards of 50 for leisure, collectively highlighting his unique propensity for cross-cultural immersion and international business. Jun received his Bachelors in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. A strong and steady 2019 … read more
Douglas Crets, Communications Master Douglas is the English Master in Communication. A passionate marketing strategist and content writer, he spent three years with Microsoft in Silicon Valley managing the global social media marketing strategy for BizSpark, Microsoft’s Azure and software program for entrepreneurs. Douglas has a deep love for technology, literature and travel. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts from Syracuse University and a Masters in Journalism from the University of Hong Kong. One day, he hopes to travel around the world for a year. First attempts at startup products usually fall short. This can be really frustrating, but early-stage founders don’t often realize that these false starts are … read more
Sandi Wu, Analyst (吳岱蓉 / 分析師) 負責 Accelerator 與投資。加入 AppWorks 前，任職於富邦產險電子商務部，負責線上投保平台的專案管理及 Email 行銷，喜愛探究數字背後的意義。曾前往芬蘭交換學生半年，期間走遍半個歐洲，喜歡寂靜的自然風景勝過繁華的現代都市。畢業於台大財金系，擔任系女排隊長，熱愛美食、排球、旅遊及挑戰新事物。 新創企業在創立初期、尚未打開知名度之前，想找到第一批客戶，總是會十分挫折。尤其是目標客戶是面對企業 (To B) 的新創，相比面對個人消費者 (To C) 的新創，常常需要花更多的時間與人力，才能接觸到目標客戶中對的單位。說服用戶單位後，因為企業採購有一定的流程，所以還需要再花更多的時間與人力在相關單位間一個個打通關，才有機會完成成交。在這過程中，開發企業客戶，更像是利用陸軍 (創辦人親自參與或是由業務團隊負責) 做地推，需要持續努力，才能闖過一個又一個關卡，順利攻下客戶，相對之下，若是開發個人消費者，則較適合利用空軍 (包括大眾媒體、網路或社群媒體) 來操作議題、病毒行銷、投放網路廣告等方式來進行業務開發。 AppWorks Accelerator 的校友中，有許多面對企業客戶的新創，我訪問了其中三位 AI 新創的創辦人，整理出他們在創立初期，有哪些由創辦人親自負責開發企業客戶的方法，並將其中最適合他們的方法分享給大家： 1. 陌生開發：更重要的是獲得產品回饋 多數消費者，在接到陌生開發電話的時候，通常都不太願意花時間談話、甚至擔心對方為什麼可以取得自己的資訊。然而，當新創在聯繫潛在的企業客戶時，陌生開發往往比想像的有效，不管是打電話、發 email、直接登門拜訪，至少有機會獲得五分鐘的時間。 儘管陌生開發相對容易，但後續的轉換率可能會讓人感到挫折。AW#17 的校友 Ocard，是一個提供給品牌或店家使用的 AI 顧客管理 (CRM) 系統，Ocard 創辦人陳逸生 (Vinek Chen) 認為，平均來說，打電話、發 email 給 100 位潛在企業客戶，大約可以獲得 30 次談話的機會，30 次中可能有 15 次獲得 Demo 的機會，15 次中真正成交的可能只有 5 個。 陳逸生進一步指出：「這過程很辛苦，但最重要的，是可以透過這個機會，獲得寶貴的使用者回饋，而進一步調整自己的產品。」剛開始 Ocard 團隊四個人積極的進行陌生開發，三個月內向上百店家 Demo 產品，卻只成交了兩家，然而在陌生開發的過程中，陳逸生發現，初期他們只有開發協助店家的會員集點功能，並不足以吸引客戶，於是 Ocard 內部快速地調整產品，新增了問卷、抽獎等功能，讓企業客戶有更多工具去做 CRM，兩年內已成功開發超過 1,000 家以上的企業客戶。 2. 找尋合作夥伴：事半功倍的互惠關係 身為一位創辦人，必須時時從目標客群的角度去思考。這些目標客群，他們通常會聚集在哪裡？平常接收資訊的管道是什麼？實體或網路上不同的資訊管道有什麼差異？來自香港的 Easychat ，開發的聊天機器人 (Chatbot)，整合了 Facebook Messenger、LINE、WeChat 及 Whatsapp 等通訊軟體，提供一站式的智能銷售及客戶服務。Easychat 創辦人陳正達 (Alan Chan) 分享，他們的目標客戶是電商公司，一開始在開發電商客戶的時候，就先問自己說，電商會聚集在哪裡？他想到的答案是「電商開店平台」，在香港，Shopline 是最大的電商開店平台，於是他先專注在 Shopline 上的電商，並透過 Instagram 與店家聯繫，但一開始回覆率只有一成。 後來陳正達加入 AW#16，並開始在台灣發展業務。透過 AppWorks 為每屆加速器團隊舉辦的 Mentor Day，認識了台灣最大的品牌新零售、虛實融合 OMO 平台 91APP，Easychat 因此成為了 91APP 的技術夥伴，91APP 會向其客戶推薦 Easychat 的服務。除此之外，現在在電商開店平台 Waca 及 EasyStore 上，可以直接在後台啟用 Easychat 的服務，大大提高了 Easychat … read more
As of today, AppWorks has promoted two new partners, Jessica Liu and Andy Tsai, and two new associates, Alyssa Chen and Ching Tseng. Jessica Liu graduated from the University of Southern California’s (USC) Marshall School of Business and has been working with AppWorks for nearly five years. She was responsible for several important AppWorks portfolio, including Carousell, the region’s leading C2C marketplace, ShopBack, the largest cashback platform in Greater Southeast Asia, KKday, the leading travel experience platform in Asia; and 91APP, one of the largest digital commerce enabler in Asia. Moving forward, she will be responsible for leading AppWorks’ expansion plans in Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on Indonesia. … read more
