Capital Raise Roadshow in Taipei

In early May, one of our clients RipeTime engaged Michael run its latest capital raise, and as part of that, to attend a capital raise roadshow in Taipei organised by The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). Follow the links to this news article about the trip, and about RipeTime.

Taipei is very different to its bigger Neighbour, China. Like New Zealand, it lives in the shadow of its bigger neighbour, except that China sends Taiwan more smog and pollution that Australia sends to us.
People are very warm and open, and the economy and education sectors are well developed. Taiwan for many years was the global leader in the manufacture of semi-conductors, and has a high-tech focus. This drives much of their investment behaviour and outlook of the future.
New Zealand has a very strong relationship with Taiwan, the NZ and Taiwanese Governments have injected funds ($160M each) into a cross border venture capital fund. The objective is to boost investment activity, and importantly for New Zealand companies also provide access to networks and the broader Asian market. NZVIF has been around since 2002, and is making a positive contribution to the investment community. The Taiwanese equivalent, NDF, has been around since 1973 and was set up with a $10-billion-dollar fund – $55 billion in today’s money.
It is no surprise that the investment community is very engaged and very experienced in helping early stage companies. The Taiwanese Government continues to support NDF, and other Taiwanese agencies have built strong and effective relationships with NDF and investee companies – a great model for New Zealand to aspire to.
I also noticed a greater sense of equality between men and women, and there appeared to be significant political freedom. Personally, I found the local people nicer and friendlier than Hong Kong Chinese. The food in Taiwan was surprisingly good, fresh and cheap. The local beer wasn’t great, but a good supply of imported beer made up for that minor fail.
The over-riding value of Taipei, in addition to investment is that it is an effective bridge to into Greater Asia, especially as a beachhead into China.
Gilligan Sheppard continues to develop valuable relationships in Taiwan, and those interested in learning more should contact Michael.