COMPUTEX exhibition hosts second Taiwan-Israel Innovation Summit and draws more start-ups with first-ever pitch contest
The annual InnoVEX exhibit, organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and dedicated to start-ups since 2016, this year continues to offer entrepreneurs and the rising stars of tomorrow the space and stage to showcase their products and attract the attention of investors.
Following two consecutive years of online-only shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year marked the return of a physical show at COMPUTEX, alongside a companion virtual exhibition. The InnoVEX exhibit this year features 195 start-ups from 14 different countries.
This year’s national pavilions at Innovex include India, Brazil and Italy, alongside the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which has assembled start-ups from Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Mongolia and Montenegro.
Emote Electric Pvt Ltd introduced the Surge electric motorcycle, which has power roughly equivalent to a 200cc engine. It is one of the only electric vehicles equipped with a four-speed gearbox and boasts 500km of range on a single charge thanks to a modular, swappable battery pack with internal capacity for three packs. The motorcycle features 4G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as GPS navigation, and runs a custom operating system built on Android Open.
DriveOn Telematics from Brazil is a telemetry application that generates driver behavior scores and converts them into Cyptomiles, which can be traded at automotive partners for other crypto or fiat currency. The better the score, the more Cryptomiles a driver earns — essentially offering a cash incentive for more responsible driving.
This year’s Taiwan-Israel Innovation Summit highlighted how Israel’s start-up market and ecosystem — featuring more than 7,000 start-ups — greatly complements Taiwan, a technology manufacturing hub for cutting-edge products at all scales and levels.
Denes Ban, managing partner of Israeli start-up investment platform OurCrowd, highlighted how Israel’s start-ups were the best in the world, saying that this is due to the country’s tech ecosystem being a “well-oiled machine.”
Ban said that this year would not be a repeat of the dot-com bubble and will be a year of slowdown and polarization, but added that the investment trend is returning to the private market and would be beneficial to start-ups.
Fortune 500 companies’ lifetimes have decreased mostly due to anticipated tech disruption, Ban said, urging investors to keep investing, as technological innovation makes a difference.
Autotalks founder Onn Haran highlighted the development of the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system for autonomous vehicles.
“V2X is the only vehicle sensor that can operate without line-of-sight” and will enable a paradigm shift from the vehicle safety systems of today, which are largely based on visual sensors.
To this end, Autotalks has collaborated with Unex to deploy V2X solutions in Taiwan. Separately, Autotalks is also collaborating with Foxconn to launch the ZooZ micro-ability platform, which hopes to improve the safety and lives of non-vehicular occupants, such as scooterists or bike riders.
Taiwan’s start-ups proved to be no less interesting, with Jorjin and Ganzin jointly creating the J7EF Gaze: the Asia-Pacific region’s first AR smart glasses with built-in eye-tracking capabilities and winner of the COMPUTEX Best Choice Award.
CoolSo has developed a biosensor that records muscle motions. The wristband enables contactless control of a paired tablet, laptop or cellphone. The device has a wide range of applications, such as virtual reality or access to terminals for workers wearing protective gear.
Not all innovation is focused on the tech sector. Due to growing recognition of the harm chemical-based pesticides cause to the environment, alternative solutions are being developed. For example, A.nT Co’s hydrogel alginate bait incorporates ant pathogenic bacteria, which is carried back to the colony. The bait, derived from fast-growing brown seaweeds, is biodegradable for minimal environmental impact.
InnoVEX’s Garage+ Pavilion this year featured 48 start-ups in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare and green technology. For example, Bujibui provides a novel 3D data visualization platform for digital twins that is rendered on remote, low-power devices. Parallel processing reduces rendering time and costs.
InnoVEX also debuted the Pitch Contest, a hybrid competition for start-ups pitching to multiple investors. The contest attracted contestants from seven countries and regions with the aim of helping them build strategic partnerships and gain valuable media exposure. The competition — sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Startup Terrace, Qualcomm, Taiwania Capital and KPMG — offers US$347,000 in cash and rewards.
