The National Development Fund (NDF) has passed “Investment Plan for Promoting Startups” (推動創業拔萃方案投資計畫) on September 18, 2014. This is an effort to support Taiwan’s early-stage startups to connect with venture capital firms in Taiwan and overseas. NDF has passed the resolutions on January 23,2015 to invest in four venture capitals including Trans-Pacific Technology Fund (TPTF, 華美科技創業投資基金).

TPTF is a joint venture co-managed by Industrial Technology Investment Corporation (ITIC) in Taiwan and 360ip from Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle) in the US. TPTF expects to raise US$120 million to invest in startups in high-growth industries such as advanced materials, opto-electronics, precision and automated machineries, and cloud applications. TPTF will also prioritize investments in Taiwan’s early-stage companies.

ITIC is the subsidiary of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan and has been focusing heavily on venture capital investments. Battelle, the parent company of 360ip, is a well-known non-profit organization for R&D and technology business, which has extensive experience in technology commercialization. Through investing in TPTF, NDF is going to utilize IP portfolio of the world-class labs managed by Battelle and back Taiwan’s startups to find international resources. This will greatly help the startups on commercialization as well as promote Taiwan’s technological development.