Take a sneak peek at the FFA2021 agenda
| Was this email forwarded to you? Click here to join our community and follow make sure you follow us on LinkedIn | | | Once revered in the 60s-90s for rapid industrialization and growth, Taiwan has taken a backseat to other nations as its economy stabilized. However, seeds sown in the past are ripe for harvest. Taiwan is also famed for its semiconductors, strategic location and technology know-how, all of which are important ingredients in agricultural development. COVID-19 has propelled food security, sustainability and climate change to the forefront. But if Taiwan is primed for surprising us again in its own way, there are still few Taiwanese startups that are rising to the challenge. When Future Food Asia embarked on the mission to build a community of agrifoodtech talents in the region, we looked for hubs that had a strong start-up ecosystem. Unsurprisingly the investors and entrepreneurs we spoke to in Taipei, Taichung, Kaoshiung and Hsinchu thought of agrifoodtech as being a very niche sector, which is no different from all the countries we had visited. But Taiwan masters all the foundational technologies in place such as IOT, robotics, drones, semiconductors as well as a reputed biotech sector. And all this is notoriously conducive to agrifoodtech innovations. With these building blocks in place, what are the triggers to see agrifoodtech blossom in Taiwan? Taiwan-based HaoShi Foundation, a FFA2021 Partner, remains hopeful. The organization focuses on fostering agrifood startups growth through innovative approaches with international perspective. As the Foundation’s CEO Chen Mao Chia expressed: "With Taiwan's strengths in technology, the agrifood industry has the potential to carry out rapid & large scale changes from farm to fork. Also, the global COVID-19 pandemic has altered lifestyles, thereby changing consumers' behaviors & accelerating innovation in the agri food industry. We anticipate Taiwanese entrepreneurs to use ICT capabilities to develop innovative services and products for farmers that would address the current needs of consumers". In an FFA exclusive panel we will investigate “Agrifoodtech, the Taiwan Way” and how to catalyze the ecosystem. Join the Future Food Asia 2021 Conference to hear our distinguished speakers Dr. Hsu Tin Chen and Ryan Yang as they explore with the support of FFA stalwart Eugene Wang how startups can tap on Taiwan’s strengths, share their learnings from Silicon Valley and opine on what governments can do better to nurture startups in their journey. | | |
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Dr. Hsu has had his roots in academia, starting out from human health (cancer research) before pivoting to food science approximately 10 years ago. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science at the National Taiwan University & Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan. He was also awarded the IUFoST Global Industry Award for “Curdlan & Applied Products” at the 14th World Congress of Food Science & Technology. |
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Ryan Yang was the CEO of Taiwan Startup Institute (TSI), a startup accelerator that spearheaded the commercialization and globalization of deep tech startups. During his tenure at TSI, the accelerator program had accepted more than 100 startups, of which raised more than US$ 100 million of funding. Ryan was also the chairman of Taipei Angels Investment which was founded in 2012 with 80+ angel investors. Ryan worked for a Softbank Group-backed internet company during the dot-com era. Ryan was also with a Nasdaq-listed company, where he led the global online marketing efforts. He was the co-founder and president of a Silicon Valley e-tailer which was named among the US Top 500 Online Retailers. |
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Eugene Wang grew up immersed in the vegetarian food business. Since 2010, his vision for launching Sophie’s Kitchen, the first Plant-Based Seafood Alternative, has manifested into a viable category innovation lauded by the press and social media thought leaders. Sophie’s Kitchen had won numerous recognitions from companies like PepsiCo and Chipotle. In 2019, Eugene took the alternative protein to the microorganism level and started another new venture in Singapore, Sophie’s BioNutrients Pte Ltd. He won the grand prize of $1 million SGD at The Liveabilty Challenge 2019 with this new project and started his first protein fermentation facility in Singapore. |
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| The 5 days of Future Food Asia 2021 are packed with intriguing deep dives (like the one above) alongside the 10 start-up finalist pitches, vying for the grand prize of US$100,000. Check out a sneak peek of our agenda below and, With less than a month to go make sure you mark your calendar and save your seat. | | | | | | | |
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