Ecosystem at a GlanceNovember 2026Published by Openfor.co, from Tokyo

The people behind the work.

Investors, founders, mentors and members we work with every week. Each conversation becomes a feature you can read, with the video beside it.

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Hosted by Erdinc Ekinci and Yu Li Shein

Features

One conversation. One feature. Read it, then watch it.

Each guest sat down with Erdinc. We turned the recording into an editorial with the main ideas, the best lines and the video.

More conversations

Coming soonRecorded. The feature and the video are on the way.

In their words

Nine members. Press play and hear them.

We did not write these. Each member recorded what changed for them.

Members at work

Members who now teach, sell and speak inside the network.

Each of them has a page in the network. This is what they do with it today.

More members on the wallA few of the people building next to them.

Mentors and investors

The people who sit across the table every week.

250+ mentors in 30 countries. More than 80% of them are investors. These are some of the faces members met this year.

It works both ways. We feature our mentors and share their work, as our thanks.See everyone on the Atlas →

Organisations

The organisations around the table.

Partners we run things with, and the firms our mentors come from.

Partners

Organisations we work with on events, programmes and content.

Where our mentors work

Funds and firms behind the people in this issue.

Names identify where people work. They do not indicate a partnership with, or endorsement of, Openfor.co.

Open calls

What members are asking for right now.

A collab call says what someone needs and what they give back. Anyone can read them. Members reply.

From the Atlas

The reports behind the people.

The Atlas is our open database of who supports founders, country by country. These reports come out of it.

8,742 entries in 62 countries. Open, and corrected by anyone.Investors, mentors, programmes, media, corporates, venues and partner programmes.

Open the Atlas →

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Write your pageWho you are, what you are building and what you are open to. Your words, your photo.
We check it onceA quick review. After that you edit it whenever you like.
Post a collab callSay what you need and what you give back. Members reply.
We feature what stands outOn this page, in our sessions and on our channels. We cannot promise views, leads or customers.

Ecosystem at a Glance

Podcast · 58 min · Corporate funds · Taiwan

The corporate investor that backs its own customers

Andy Cheng leads investment at GrandTech Cloud Services, a listed cloud company in Taiwan. It invests in the startups that buy from it. He explains why, and what founders should understand about fit before they ask a company for money.

Andy ChengHead of Japan, GrandTech Cloud ServicesProfile ↗

Erdinc EkinciHostProfile ↗

Watch the conversation

30+startups backed in Taiwan

$200K to $2Mthe usual cheque

4 to 5venture funds it also invests in

01Customers first, then shareholders

GrandTech resells cloud services from AWS and Google Cloud, and it serves startups more than large enterprises. Its investment arm works from the company's own balance sheet. It invests directly in customers, and in a few venture funds that bring new connections.

The aim is a closer relationship. Sometimes the company knows it is paying a little more than a pure investor would. It accepts that, because the startup is a customer or will become one. It usually follows a lead investor and does not lead rounds itself.

“We are okay for that because they are our customer.”
Andy ChengHear it at 0:32

02Fit matters more than the famous comparison

His advice to founders is to stop comparing themselves to US giants. Taiwan has 23 million people. Culture, buying habits and income are different. Calling yourself the Uber or the Stripe of a small market does not convince him. Know who you compete with in the market you are really in.

With a corporate investor, think like you are making a proposal. What does the company get from working with you, beyond the shares? Most failed partnerships, in his experience, are about people who wanted different things.

03Why companies come to Japan

He sees Japan as a market for profit more than for fast revenue. Japanese customers are loyal to their suppliers, so margins hold up. It takes real effort to enter. The reward is a relationship that lasts.

How GrandTech invests

A startup becomes a cloud customer
The team sees how it really operates
It invests alongside a lead investor
Cloud, capital and connections come as one

What to take with you

Some companies invest to build a closer customer relationship.
Ask what the corporate investor gains beyond shares.
Compare yourself to real rivals in your own market.
Japan rewards patience with loyal customers.

This feature is an editorial summary of a public conversation hosted by Erdinc Ekinci. Quotes come from the recording and are lightly trimmed. Figures are the speaker's own. Nothing here is investment advice.