An Introduction of Taiwan Startup Innovation in the Pandemic Lockdown Period in 2021
During the COVID-19 period, Taiwan has faced with a new challenge – the lockdown of stores, shops, and schools have prompted innovations to adapt to this change.
On May 15, 2021, there are hundreds of covid cases surged in both Taipei City and New Taipei City, and the Center of Disease Control reacted with an announcement of enforcing the Covid-19 Level 3 restriction, which is expected to last for at least two months. The Level 3 restriction Guideline including the temporary shutdown of commercial sites, including restaurants, shops, and mall outlets. The famous “night market” in Taiwan have shut down, and restaurants are only allowed to “take out”. From the data of Department of Statistics, Ministry of Economics, Food Services industry sectors sales has declined by 19.1%, 50.2$ Billion NTD in May. (https://www.moea.gov.tw/MNS/dos_e/home/Home.aspx)
Tsai Tung Agriculture released “Fresh Delivery” Service
From May to June of 2021, one of the most significant need of people’s everyday life is food catering, and delivery service. Startup – Tsai Tung Agriculture, an innovation startup which develops digital platform for food ingredient service, release a new service – “Next Door Fresh” fresh groceries service. This service is the first innovation in Taiwan that enables customers to pick their own fresh food to deliver to their home within a day, available in Taipei, and part of New Taipei City.
Just Kitchen went public in Toronto Stock Exchange
According to a study conducted by Allied Market Research in 2020, the cloud kitchen market is estimated to reach 70 billion USD by 2027, doubling the amount in 2019. The startup JustKitchen, which had just recently gone public, is estimated to be worth 200 billion even in the midst of the lockdown-recession of the economy. The new delivery and business model, including pre-packaged, ready-to-cook, and centralized kitchen hub and management combined has made the company successful, with currently hub kitchen and 14 Spoke kitchens, as well as expansion to global markets.
Instant Booking App Launch Take-Out Service
FunNow is one of the largest restaurants and entertainment booking apps startup in Taiwan. With the impact of lockdown and hinders the economic growth, the CEO Ting-Kuan Chen estimated that the revenue in Taiwan will drop more than 50%. FunNow have release a new service – “Take Out” reservations service, that helped local catering service to a digital platform, to meet with the QR Code Real Name Registration in Taiwan. The FunNow Booking service is offered free for businesses and provided discount service for using the take-out service. This is the reason why the company is growing its market even during the lockdown period in Taiwan.
EdTech growth during the pandemic
In the middle of the pandemic in Taiwan, not only businesses start to “work from home”, but students are also taking classes using web conferencing devices and software. There are many new tools introduced into the market this period, including the OKIOCAM T Plus from Okiolabs. The Okiocam is a web camera, white board, and front-facing camera, especially designed for online education with the huge growing demand for distance learning.
Conclusion
According to the Startup Ecosystem Ranking from StartupBlink 2021, Taiwan is rank 26 in the world globally, 7th in Asia-Pacific. With the impact of the economic landscape due to the Corona Virus, Taiwan has proved that not only the Taiwan Innovation can adapt with creativity.
TIF Innovation Ecosystem Report：
TIF Official Website Portal: www.taiwaninnovationfinder.com
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