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Unlocking Opportunities: How Taiwan’s Innovation Board Reforms Support Startup Globalization
Innovation and entrepreneurship are important driving forces for the socio-economic development of a country, and establishing a sound entrepreneurial ecosystem is conducive to the growth and development of startups.
Over the past decade, thanks to the joint efforts of entrepreneurs, the government, venture capital firms, and related service organizations, Taiwan's entrepreneurial ecosystem has made remarkable progress, transitioning from a barren desert to a thriving rainforest.
As startups require a certain amount of capital investment at each stage of growth, the capital provided in recent years by the government, venture capitals, enterprises, and angel investors which is needed for the growth of startups at different stages has been quite beneficial to the recent startups.
For startup investments to remain active and continuously circulate, a timely exit channel is essential. However, in Taiwan, startup investment exits still primarily depend on public listings rather than the mergers and acquisitions commonly seen overseas.
Therefore, it is particularly important for Taiwan to construct a capital market that is conducive to the smooth listing and funding of highly growing but not yet profitable startups, as well as the exit of early investors.
In 2021, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) launched the Taiwan Innovation Board, aiming to shorten the lead time for startups to enter the capital market for fundraising, as well as expand market participation. After three years of promotion, although a certain number of innovative companies have been listed on the Taiwan Innovation Board, due to relevant regulations that result in low liquidity, many startups are still on the sidelines. Therefore, although there has been some progress in the Taiwan Innovation Board, no clustering effect has yet been formed.
The TWSE will significantly relax trading restrictions for participants on the Taiwan Innovation Board next year (2025), including lifting investor restrictions, and opening up margin trading, securities lending, and intraday odd-lot share trading. The relaxation is expected to promote growth-oriented startups to choose to be listed on the Taiwan Innovation Board, and create the following strategic impacts：
1. Assisting in the sustained growth of startups：
The policy relaxation will encourage more growth-oriented and internationally ambitious startups to apply for listing on the Taiwan Innovation Board to secure the capital needed for overseas expansion or scaling their operations, ensuring sustained growth.
Gogolook, the developer of Whoscall, is a prime example of such success. This relaxation presents an opportunity to nurture more startups like Gogolook in the future.
2. Promoting the flow of investment funds into startups：
By loosening measures to improve the liquidity of the Taiwan Innovation Board, more Taiwanese startups can be attracted to join the board to allow early investors of these startups to exit smoothly, and reinvest their funds in other startups in the future.
It is expected that this trend will become a source of funding for startups, and create a positive impact on their future development.
3. Driving the clustering effect of innovative applications and funding：
As more Taiwanese startups choose to list on the Taiwan Innovation Board, related digital innovation companies will also form a certain clustering effect, which will attract the attention of domestic and foreign investors and further expand funding sources. In the future, it is expected that more international startups will be attracted and choose to list on the Taiwan Innovation Board; this will not only form a positive cycle, but also contribute to the internationalization of Taiwan’s capital market.
In the long run, the relaxation measures of the Taiwan Innovation Board are crucial for the development of Taiwan’s startups. They will drive growth-oriented startups to go public and secure the necessary funds for international expansion and accelerated growth. Additionally, these measures will promote the inflow of investment into startups and attract foreign startups to list in Taiwan, further strengthening the clustering effect.
This will provide important support for the internationalization and upgrading of Taiwan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and be conducive to accelerating the internationalization of the local capital market.
The original article: The Relaxation Measures of the Taiwan Innovation Board Have a Key Impact on the Promotion of Internationalization and Upgrading of Taiwan’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
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