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

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Ecosystem at a Glance

Panel · 74 min · Taiwan · Go global

Meet the Taiwan startup ecosystem

People from Startup Island TAIWAN, AppWorks and SparkLabs Taiwan explain how the island works for founders: which markets Taiwanese startups enter first, how open local investors are, and why Taiwan is bigger than Taipei.

Allen John KuStartup Island TAIWANProfile ↗

Alyssa ChenAppWorksProfile ↗EEdgarSparkLabs Taiwan

Erdinc EkinciHostProfile ↗

Watch the conversation

2.5 hoursfrom the north of Taiwan to the south

Japanthe first market most panelists named

Globalwhere most follow-on investors come from, for one fund

01Where Taiwanese startups go first

Asked for the top markets to enter, the panel gave close answers. One named Japan, Korea and the US. From the AppWorks community, startups usually go to Japan and Southeast Asia. Japan came up every time.

Entering a new market is always hard, they agreed. The practical help is partners who already have an office there.

Markets the panel named

Japan
Southeast Asia
Korea
The United States

02How open are investors

From the investor side, the goal is to connect portfolio companies with global markets. One way is to work with global investors and large international companies. For the fund on the panel, most of the investors who join later rounds are global.

The other half of the job is to put Taiwanese startups on the map for investors abroad. That is a large part of what Startup Island TAIWAN does: taking startups into other ecosystems.

03Bigger than Taipei

The closing advice was about geography. Taiwan is more than its capital. With fast transport, the whole island is about two and a half hours end to end. Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan can host a founding team as well.

“Taiwan's bigger than Taipei.”
From the conversationHear it at 1:11:20

What to take with you

Japan is the most common first market for Taiwanese startups.
Partners with offices abroad make entry easier.
Later rounds often bring in global investors.
Look beyond Taipei when you choose a base.

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.