Go Vilnius Welcomes Delegation from Taiwan to Strengthen Tech Ties
Go Vilnius is facilitating business connections to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Vilnius. With interest from Taiwanese startups, realizing these opportunities will require a collaborative effort within the local community.
The Taiwanese business delegation at the Go Vilnius office
Taiwan Startup Terrace, the equivalent of Lithuania’s Startup Lithuania, organized a business mission with delegates from five Taiwanese startups to explore Central and Northern Europe for favorable business environments. They are considering Vilnius as a potential hub for business opportunities as they expand into the European Union, seeking partnerships and other collaboration opportunities. Their first stop in Vilnius was Go Vilnius, where they met with representatives from the Vilnius TechFusion team and International House Vilnius.
“We are seeking support resources for Taiwanese startups in Vilnius, as well as for Lithuanian startups looking to expand into the Taiwan market,” says Jia Li, Marketing Executive at Taiwan Startup Terrace.
Expanding horizons: Taiwanese startups target Europe
Mangirdas Sapranauskas, the Head of Business at Go Vilnius, provided the Taiwanese delegation with insights into Vilnius’s startup ecosystem. “The Taiwanese have shown interest in collaborative opportunities and the incentives available for relocating to Lithuania. After all, we already have over 2800 tech companies, employing over 50 thousand specialists in Vilnius alone, so international companies would be welcomed by a dynamic, growing, and close-knit ecosystem. But for Taiwanese companies to actually start talking about expanding to Lithuania, we need the effort from the whole ecosystem, so we are coordinating with International House Vilnius, Invest Lithuania, Innovation Agency, Rockit and other partners to provide the best support. Moreover, since we have more than 300 startups in Vilnius, we also need to facilitate connections between Lithuanian and Taiwanese startup communities,” he noted.
The five startups, currently in Series A or B funding stages, span various sectors of the tech industry, including medical technology, robotic process automation, hardware security, blockchain technology, and quantum cryptography. Each company aims to build connections with key industry stakeholders with the goal to establish a presence in Lithuania.
FREE Bionics is the first company in Taiwan developing powered exoskeletons, exo-suits, and bionic technology products, including “FREE Walk”, an exoskeleton robot. Now, the company is looking for expansion possibilities in Lithuania and connections with superintendents, medical service managers, and researchers in hospitals. “We are currently discussing with investment agencies and planning the supply of our product to hospitals. We believe that expanding to Lithuania would be a great step towards expanding throughout Europe,” said Chenghua Wu, manager of FREE Bionics.
Robotiive, developed by IsCoolLab, is a Robotic process automation (RPA) solution that utilizes patented AI computer vision technology to achieve cross-platform, cross-system, cross-machine, and remote desktop data extraction, integration and automation. The company works with both manufacturing and office settings. They are looking for investors, agents and distributors to help them navigate the European market.
As Lithuania ranks 2nd globally in the National Cybersecurity Index and 6th in the EU in the ITU Global Cybersecurity Index, its ecosystem is also an ideal setting for the Taiwanese startups Jmem Tek, Turing Space, and Chelpis Quantum Tech. These companies would greatly benefit from and contribute to the startup landscape by utilizing the nation’s reliable infrastructure and skilled IT talent.
Jmem tek provides hardware security IP and design service in AI, AIoT and automotive. Their solution generates a secure ID for chips, similar to an electronic fingerprint, to protect products from hacking and counterfeiting. Jmem tek also develops hardware PQC solutions to prevent quantum computing hacking. The company wants to engage in collaboration between academics and businesses and establish a company in Lithuania to facilitate expansion in Europe.
Turing Space leverages cutting-edge blockchain technology to offer secure, tamper-proof digital certificates and identity verification solutions. Their platform ensures the authenticity of credentials and identities, facilitating trust and transparency across various industries globally, from education to healthcare and beyond. They are interested in collaboration with public sectors, universities, online course platforms, and international certification organizations.
Chelpis Quantum Tech is a leading global advanced cryptography application technology company, offering Edge-to-Cloud quantum security technology to protect information flow, identity verification, and encryption authentication in the cloud and endpoints. They are searching for fundraising opportunities and potential partnership for business development.
Building bridges: Vilnius’s strategic outreach to Taiwanese startups
Gintarė Bačiulienė, Head of Global Development at Invest Lithuania noted that for Taiwanese companies looking for business development opportunities, Lithuania has a chance to become a gateway to Europe. “In addition to its robust startup ecosystem and highly qualified talent pool, Lithuania boasts one of Europe’s most attractive business environments and serves as a hub for fintech and digital competencies. It is important to actively seek more business collaboration and partnership opportunities between Lithuania and Taiwan, as well as strengthen capabilities in deep tech and scientific research.”
Mangirdas Sapranauskas from Go Vilnius also emphasizes the need for Vilnius to actively engage with startups from Taiwan. He stated, “We are actively sharing information about opportunities, and we encourage businesses interested in partnerships with Taiwanese companies to contact Vilnius Tech Fusion.”
In addition to Vilnius, the Taiwanese business delegation visited the Polish capital Warsaw. According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2024, Vilnius ranks 73rd among top cities, while Warsaw is positioned at 99th.
