2022 Meet Taipei Startup Festival kicks off at Taipei Expo Dome
2022 Meet Taipei 創新創業嘉年華 臺北花博爭艷館開幕
Event showcases Taiwan's incredible capacity for talent and innovation on global stage
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Meet Taipei 2022 Startup Festival hosted by Business Next Media and the Meet group officially opened on Thursday (Nov. 17) and will run through Saturday (Nov. 19).
This year’s expo has the theme of “New Paths for Disruptors.” Organizers hope to showcase Taiwan’s incredible capacity for talent and innovation on the global stage, while also giving the public a glimpse of the rapid technological developments that are just around the corner.
Meet Taipei is taking place at the Taipei Expo Dome near the Yuanshan MRT station. Around 3,000 startups, including over 400 from abroad, will be represented at the festival, covering industries including, but not limited to, biotechnology, digital finance, robotics, Web3 advertising, cloud services, communications, the internet of things and workforce development.
The festival also features a special pavilion that offers resources and consulting advice for companies eager to enter the Japanese market.
On Thursday (Nov. 16), organizers hosted a soft-opening evening and VIP event that offered a sneak-peek at the incredible array of exhibitions and events planned for this year’s festival. Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) offered a few words of welcome and encouragement to the exhibitors and startups joining this year’s festival.
The vice president said that now is an auspicious time to invest in Taiwan or become an entrepreneur, as the Tsai administration seeks to optimize the local business environment to take advantage of global trends in emerging technologies. “It is clear that the world has entered a new digital age, one that will impact how we live our daily lives moving forward. Further, environmental concerns have spurred a green industrial revolution that the world cannot ignore,” said Lai.
In this environment, Lai expressed his excitement and said that “Taiwan’s mission is to jump in and act as a leader in these developments over the coming years… Conditions right now represent an opportunity for everyone to succeed.”
As a showcase of new technology, visitors at Meet Taipei will be given the opportunity to mint their own NFTs (non-fungible tokens) by checking in at four different exhibit booths on the trade floor. Once earned, or “minted,” visitors can then use their NFT to purchase a cup of coffee or another beverage at a cafe station located at the center of the exhibition floor. The NFTs can also be donated by visitors to vote for the most innovative or promising companies at the festival, which are displayed on a digital leaderboard.
At a media preview, Taiwan News witnessed a small sample of local startups joining the festival and seeking investment. The brief lounge event showcased companies developing everything from plant-based fat substitutes for vegetarian cuisine (Lypid), to an AI-integrated water resource management system (Woolong), to foldable LCD screens, no thicker than a piece of card stock (Panelsemi).
The range of products and digital services being pitched at this year’s expo is truly staggering. Beyond entrepreneurs and investors, anyone interested in catching a glimpse of technologies likely to have an impact on society over the years ahead should seize the opportunity to take a stroll around the exhibition this weekend.
