HaoShi Foundation Fosters Startup
Unicorns in Food and Agriculture Sectors by Focusing on Agricultural
Technology, Sustainable Development and Innovative Food Products
March 22, 2019, Taipei - Global
startup momentum continues to climb up. Research indicates that in the third
wave of digital revolution driven by the Internet of Things, the annual growth
rate of agricultural technology and new food related startups will also scale
new height. HaoShi Foundation, which is committed to promoting a more sustainable,
healthy and transparent food and agriculture environment, launched the
"HaoShi Accelerator Seed Program " in the form of a non-profit
organization and became the first food and agriculture accelerator in Taiwan.
In order to foster Taiwan's next food and agriculture unicorn, the Foundation
held the "HaoShi Demo Day Press Conference" today (22nd). In addition
to the 11 startup companies in the fields of sustainable cultivation,
agricultural technology and innovative diet to demonstrate their results, the
international forum held on the afternoon of the same day will invite famous
food & agriculture accelerators and venture capitalists from the United
States, Israel, Singapore and other countries to share the latest trends and
experiences in international food and agriculture innovation and
entrepreneurship. The event is intended to connect Taiwan with the
international community to build a sustainable future for food and agriculture
sector.
Hans Chen , Chairman of the
HaoShi Foundation, said that "HaoShi Foundation, which was established in
2017, is a young non-profit organization. In order to encourage more people to
pay attention to food and agriculture related issues and participated in the
food and agriculture innovation and entrepreneurship, we launched the
"HaoShi Accelerator Seed Program" last year (2018), and joined hands
with domestic and foreign experts from the government, industry and academia to
improve the food and agriculture environment, create a sustainable and healthy
future for mankind, and establish a new standard for the accelerator and counseling
for food and agriculture startups."
Deputy Director Chen Qionghua of
the National Development Council of the Executive Yuan also expressed support
at the press conference. Chen noted : “National Development Council has been
promoting the optimization of the environment for innovation and
entrepreneurship. This is an important policy of the government too. HaoShi
Foundation actively assists food and agriculture startups to not only introduce
AI, IoT and other innovative technologies to promote business development, but
also to help the export of local specialty agricultural products to the
international market, complementing with the "placemaking " policy
promoted by the National Development Council, and is expected to introduce
technology into traditional agriculture. In addition, in order to provide
financial assistance for the start-up business in the initial stage, the
National Development Fund has launched a “1 billion “Entrepreneurship Angel
Investment Program”, and welcomes new agricultural startups with fundraising
needs to apply for the fund. Chen Meiling, the chairperson of the National
Development Council , will also attend the Haoshi Foundation Demo Day and
International Forum to listen to the presentations from the startups and visit
the exhibition booths to gain an in-depth understanding of the achievements of
agricultural science and technology.
4-Month
Training Covers 4 Key Areas in Three Stages to Foster the Next Unicorn in Food
and Agriculture Industry
The Accelerator Program provides
a four-month accelerated courses and invites more than 25 outstanding mentors
from the food, agriculture, technology and financial industry as well as the
academia to address topics of four major disciplines covering business
strategies, user experience design, sustainable development of food and
agriculture industry, and entrepreneurship. The program also provides
workshops, mentor counseling meetings, and a three-staged curriculum of
“innovate”, “elevate” and “activate” for the participants.
In addition to local mentors,
another major feature of the program is the collaboration with the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The program is exclusively
authorized to adopt the Venture Mentoring Services (VMS) system of MIT to help
the startups connect to the international community. Judy Ouyang, CEO of HaoShi
Foundation, said that “Being the first food and agriculture accelerator in
Taiwan, in addition to the MIT counseling resources, HaoShi also partners with
the well-known food accelerators and venture capitalists in Israel and
Southeast Asia. We hope to foster the next Taiwanese food and agriculture
startup unicorn with international and innovative thinking."
11Teams
Demonstrate Their Achievements in Agricultural Technology, Sustainable Cultivation
and Innovative Foods on Demo Day
【Agricultural Technology】IoT and AIoT Help to Upgrade Food and
Agriculture Sector
With the advent of the IOT era,
the global business opportunity generated by IOT is estimated to reach 1.5
trillion US dollars. We intend to leverage Taiwan's R&D advantage and the government's
"Smart Agriculture 4.0" policy to help farmers improve their operational
efficiency and stabilize production by applying smart technologies. Beehive
Data Technology assists farmers in production and marketing management and risk
mitigation through AIoT tools such as production analysis platform, field
sensors, local weather stations and time-lapse photography devices. ID Water uses
AI technology to develop intelligent aquaculture. Through the accumulation and
analysis of aquaculture data, it is able to create a commercial ecological
chain with optimal fishery production, catch value and environmental quality. Means Good Agricultural Biotechnology is a
scientific and agricultural company with patented Chinese herbal medicine
cultivation technology and has the capacity to breed the world's unique
Cordyceps species. The company is committed to providing high-quality raw
materials and developing innovative applications of Cordyceps. LEDA Creative specializes
in integrating aerial imagery and positioning information, mastering key
harvesting time of high-priced farming and monitoring the status of cultivated
land.
【Sustainable Cultivation】Create a Friendly Environment and Support
Remote Countryside to Promote the Co-existence of Nature and Mankind
The changes in population growth
and consumption patterns have accelerated the consumption of many natural
resources. Take Taiwan as an example, the damage to the environment has been
accelerated due to uncontrolled farming and the use of pesticides, therefore,
how to reduce the impact on the environment and propose a solution has become a
top priority. Committed to biological control and environmental sustainability,
Beemax breeds Anastatus japonicus to reduce the use of pesticides to enhance
the production and marketing value of lychee, and create friendly farming with
farmers to restore the most natural honey and achieve environmental
sustainability and a win-win situation. Blue Magpie Tea promotes the friendly
environment cultivation for tea farmers in Pinglin through the strategy of basin
reclamation, so that more tea gardens in water collection areas stop using
pesticides and start to produce natural and healthy good tea. ROKSN will
cooperate with partners in the concept of sustainable development to promote
scientific management and precise production concepts in remote areas or
special communities to jointly create a high-end chicken supply chain that can
be customized.
【Food Innovation】Food Innovation from Traditional Brands
to Demonstrate Creativity
"Eating" is an
important part of daily life. From eating for survival to eating for taste, now
people put more emphasis on eating for health or eating for fun. It can be seen
that the public's demand for food is both sensory and sensation. From the
perspective of preventive medicine, Asign Biomedical uses the homologous Chinese
herbal medicine and fruits and vegetables to produce molecular cooking powder
to provide a healthier and more delicious meal. Spark Protein insists on using
natural ingredients without added artificial sweetener, coloring and
preservatives. The high protein snacks that match the taste of Chinese consumers are formulated by Le
Cordon Blue certified dessert chef. Amazing Grace Sweets repackage
traditional Taiwanese-style cake with traceable raw materials and trendy
package design. Jun-Fu International Trade uses snowflake ice bricks made from
high-quality fruits from Taiwan to produce snowflake ice that is healthy and
refreshing with unique technology and process.
The
First Food and Agriculture Accelerator in Taiwan Partners with Renowned Local
Universities and Enterprises
In addition to the mentors from
home and abroad, the Foundation has also formed alliances with key universities
such as Chiao-tong University, Sun Yet-Sen University, Taiwan University of
Technology, National Taipei University of Technology, Chiayi University, and
Pingtung University of Technology to attract more talents in the food and
agriculture sector. In addition, in order to increase curriculum diversity, the
foundation also works with well-known companies such as Jones Day law firms, PwC
Taiwan, Scenario Lab, and PPT Lab to jointly develop legal, financial, and
planning curriculum to help startups to develop business models that meet
market needs.
HaoShi
Demo Day & International Forum Invites Speakers from the U.S., Israel and
Singapore
HaoShi Accelerator Demo Day &
International Forum is held in the afternoon today (22nd). In addition to 11
startup teams who demonstrated their achievements in the field of sustainable
cultivation, agricultural technology and innovative food, the forum also
invited well-known food accelerators and venture capitalists from the U.S.,
Israel, and Singapore to share the latest trends and experiences in
international food and beverage innovation and entrepreneurship, guest speakers
include: US food safety experts and former US FDA chief medical officer David
Acheson, who will share with the audience the key successful factor of food and
agriculture startups with his extensive experience in the food market and
regulations. Isabelle Decitre, founder and CEO of ID Capital, a small venture
capital investment and consulting company in Singapore, brings the perspective
of international venture capitalist on food and agriculture startups. Lastly,
Amir Zaidman, founder and vice president of business development at The Kitchen
Hub, the first and the only food technology incubator in Israel to share the
future of food technology.
HaoShi
Potential Unicorn Award and Vision Award with up to NT$1,000,000 of Grant
In order to encourage the
accelerator team to work hard to create a more innovative and creative business
model and technology for the future of the food and agricultural industry,
HaoShi Foundation will select one “HaoShi Potential Unicorn Award”winner and
one “Haoshi Vision Award” winner from the 11 teams participating in the Demo
Day in the afternoon.
HaoShi Potential Unicorn Award
recognizes the team that uses breakthrough innovations to solve current food
and agriculture problems and the startup project has market growth potential
and international competitiveness. The winner will be awarded NT$700,000 of
market validation grant and NT$300,000 of subsidy to participate in overseas
accelerated contest.
HaoShi Vision Award recognizes
the team that promotes win-win solution and altruism to improve the environment and create a
transparent, healthy and sustainable future. The winner will be award a market
validation grant of NT$500,000.
About HaoShi
HaoShi Foundation, established in June 2017, is a one of a kind non-profit
organization who’s mission is to foster startups with the purpose of promoting
awareness of nutrition health education, advancing food and agriculture
eco-system of sustainability and drive innovations in new food and agriculture
technology. In collaboration
with MIT( Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) in 2017, HaoShi has
launched the "Beyond Food Boot Camp” to inspire and motivate the young
entrepreneurs through a series of educational courses and business development
events. In addition, HaoShi Foundation has partnered with MIT
Professional Education Program (MIT PE) to introduce and connect its
prestigious research scholars to young entrepreneurs by sharing updated
perspectives, industry trends and innovations in next gen agricultural
advancement.
HaoShi
Foundation facebook fan page:https://www.facebook.com/Haoshi.Foundation/
About HaoShi Accelerator Seed Program
HaoShi Accelerator Seed
Program boldly launched in
November 2018 as Taiwan's first and only accelerator focusing on food and
agriculture sectors to boost food and agriculture startups and encourage
entrepreneurship . HaoShi accelerator aims at being the home for food and
agriculture entrepreneurs in Taiwan which increases transparency,
sustainability, and health of the food and agriculture ecosystem for the next
generation of entrepreneurs, investors, and business by developing new trusting
supply chains, impacting new products, services, processes and markets in an
inclusive and diversified food and agriculture ecosystem. The
program empowers entrepreneurs to adopt creative business models and innovative
technologies to develop new solutions that address current food and
agriculture’s sector needs from local to global scales.
【Attachment 1】
HaoShi Accelerator Seed Program
Participants Introduction
Category
|
Team
|
Introduction
|
Agricultural Technology
|
Beehive Data Technology
|
Beehive
Data Technology is dedicated to assisting agricultural upgrade with AIoT. We
help agricultural companies master the timing of agricultural production and
sales, help improve crop quality, and conduct risk management. The complete
agricultural scientific management solution includes the origin analysis
platform, in-field sensors, local weather stations and time-lapse photography
devices.
About
Beehive Data Technology:
|
ID Water
|
ID Water
uses AI technology to develop intelligent aquaculture. The company cooperate
with inland salt-water fish farmers to accumulate and analyze aquaculture
data to form a commercial ecological chain with good aquatic product yield,
catch production value and environmental quality.
About ID
Water :
|
|
Means Good Agricultural Biotechnogy
|
Means
Good is a technology and agricultural company with patented Chinese herbal
medicine cultivation technology and is breeding a unique species of
Cordyceps. It is committed to providing high-quality raw materials and
developing innovative applications of Cordyceps to help people resolve
allergic problems.
About
Means Good Agricultural Biotechnology:
|
|
LEDA Creative
|
LEDA
Creative is an artificial intelligence image recognition technology company.
Currently, it specializes in integrating aerial image and positioning
information, mastering the key harvest time of high-priced plants and
monitoring the status of cultivated land. Through image identification and
data analysis, it helps farmers to increase their profits and significantly
reduce their manpower cost.
|
|
Sustainable Cultivation
|
Beemax
|
Beemax is committed to biological control
and environmental sustainability measures to breed Anastatus japonicas to reduce
the use of pesticides, to create friendly farming with farmers, and restore
the most natural honey to achieve
environmental sustainability and a commercially win-win situation.
About
Beemax:
|
ROKSN
|
ROKSN uses decentralized production
structure, and cooperates with the aboriginal tribes to establish chicken
farms in the mountains with scientific management and production concept
jointly build a customizable high-end
chicken meat supply chain.
About
ROKSN:
|
|
Blue Magpie Tea
|
Blue
Magpie Tea adopts a strategy of reclaiming watersheds in Pinglin to promote
environmental friendly tea cultivation to produce natural and healthy tea.
The healthiest tea comes from the cleanest environment.
About
Blue Magpie Tea:
|
|
Food Innovation
|
Asign Biomedical
|
From the perspective of
preventive medicine, Asign Biomedical uses
the homologous Chinese herbal medicine and fruits and vegetables to produce
molecular cooking powder to provide a healthier and more delicious meal.
About
Asign Biomedical:
|
Spark Protein
|
Spark Protein focuses on making
daily snacks healthier. It insists on using
natural ingredients to produce delicious and nutritious high-protein snacks
that match the taste of Chinese consumers with the recipe from Le Cordon Bleu
certified dessert chef.
About
Spark Protein:
|
|
Amazing Grace Sweets
|
Amazing
Grace Sweets repackages healthy and delicious Taiwan's traditional-style cake
brand with dine-in and take-out options
About
Amazing Grace Sweets:
|
|
Jun-Fu International Trade
|
Jun-Fu International Trade uses snowflake ice
bricks made from high-quality fruits from Taiwan to produce snowflake ice
that is healthy and refreshing with unique technology and process.
|