TAIPEI, TAIWAN - 3 October 2018 - Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology held the "GEC+ Taipei 2018 Startup Pitch Program" at the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA), Taipei. The program exposed TTA and the Taiwan tech-startup teams to the globe.

Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) host interviews with 8 influential investors to discuss the future of Taiwan's startups from the perspective of Silicon Valley veterans. (From the left to right: Mr. Alfred Mandel, Mr. Allen May, Ms. Lucy Lu, Ms. Gloria Maceiko, Mr. Suresh Pai)

8 Influential Silicon Valley Investors to Link Taiwan Startups to the Globe

After spending more than 20 years in the valley, these mentors have achieved exceptional accomplishments in the fields of life sciences, internet of things (IoT), semiconductors, and green energy.  In a series of interviews, they share their insights on how to nurture talent and enable Taiwanese startups to go global.

Allan May has been involved as a founder or chairman of more than 80 MedTech, biotech, and diagnostic startups.  His renowned early-stage investment group, Life Science Angels (LSA), was named the top U.S. angel investment group with more than 60 million USD invested. In his interview, he touched upon the importance of future innovation in business models and the lean startup methodology. When asked about the role of government, he said, "Every technology converges in healthcare. Data technology, AI, genomics...the global winners will be made in medical technology, and this is a good place for government involvement."

Gloria Maceiko, a serial entrepreneur, has more than 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley's high-tech companies and has yielded an impressive track record in recognizing new trends, such as the predecessors of iPhone and Facebook. As a mentor, she believes that a big part of creating future opportunities for Taiwanese startups is the government's role in supporting an ecosystem. She said that, "Inviting people from other successful regions to expose [to] the Taiwanese startups and finding and supporting startups with grants, is always a great start because without money, few things happen. [That's why] initial funding from government is extremely important."

Hatim Chraibi, cofounder, CEO and managing director in North America of SPIRE Bioventures, is another mentor with over 18 years of experience in the global medical device industry.  He's adept at identifying the needs of key opinion leaders and development teams as evidenced by his major contributions in building global organizations. During his visit to Taiwan, he hopes to interact with Taiwanese entrepreneurs and assist talented teams to succeed on the international stage.

Alfred J. Mandel has offered marketing and management related consulting services to 50 top global corporations. He founded Tenex Medical Investors which went on to become the largest health and life sciences angel capital firm in the United States.

Silicon Valley to Inject Capital into Taiwan Startups for New Opportunities

With over 30 years of experience in the biotech industry, Lucy Lu has led the global company Roche Diagnostics as Vice President of Technology Management and Head of the U.S. CTO. She now serves as a board member of Life Science Angels (LSA)in San Francisco. She emphasized the importance of networking, brainstorming, and the role of incubators to facilitate this interaction as in LSA where, "when we have a question we don't understand, in a couple of phone calls we can find someone to talk to."

Suresh Pai is an entrepreneur and angel investor in medical devices. He serves as principal at LamaMed Solutions and heads a Silicon Valley startup incubator by investing aggressively and promoting external cooperation in product development of medical technologies. In his first visit to Taiwan, he expressed eagerness to meet startup teams, understand their technology, forge partnerships, and find resources.

The final two SV mentors include Dr. Kengatharan, currently CEO of Auxesia Orion and managing partner at Atheneos Ventures. The latter is an evergreen healthcare incubator fund focused on opportunities in orphan drugs and rare diseases. Mr. Xavier Sansó Mata is a founding partner at Metrix Partners, a boutique finance advisory; he also acts as advisor in biotech and drug companies. As SV mentors, they both look forward to participate in GEC+ Taipei and speak to many of Taiwan's best startups.

Teaming Up with Elite Silicon Valley Mentors tonvision a Startup Future for Taiwan

The Global Startup ecosystem believes that nurturing early stage startups can significantly influence the startups' potential growth. Therefore, TTA attempts to act as a platform that brings together entrepreneurial resources from Taiwan and abroad, and aims to further engage acceleration resources, talent and funds from all over the world.

TTA invited Taiwan's best startups to meet 1-on-1 with the eight Silicon Valley investors. As a technology startup resource and information exchange platform, TTA invited global partners to not only to participate in the startup pitch program, but also to have in-depth discussions with Taiwanese startup teams at the Taiwan Night hosted by TTA.

Further information: Visit Taiwan Tech Arena's (TTA) official website. (mor/*).