Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is an annual international trade show for products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry. Since 1976, the show has been held every January at convention centers in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States. With over 4,500 attending companies this year, CES has attracted large companies and industry experts from around the world. This year the Minister of Science and Technology and other officials headed the delegation composed of 25 newly-selected technology startup teams to attend the trade show in the US. STPI members have arranged visits to Silicon Valley before the trade show so as to elicit expert opinions from local mentors, investors, and entrepreneurs and facilitate exchanges with the startup teams from Taiwan.

Group photo at the experience-sharing press conference of the visit to Silicon Valley and attendance at CES

The trip to the US was aimed at matching Taiwan's startups with mentors of accelerators and venture capital networks. The ultimate goal was to help the teams win investment and seize collaboration opportunities through their pitches. Before the CES trade show, the Minister of Science and Technology, STPI members, and the startup teams from Taiwan together visited local venture capital firms and startups in Silicon Valley to better grasp startup trends and investment focus of venture capitals.

During the visit, mentors of 500 Startups, a world-renowned accelerator, were also invited to provide consultancy advice for the startup teams to conduct mock pitches for the CES convention and adjust their pace and style of presentation. Established by Dave McClure and Christine Tsai in 2010, 500 Startups is an early-stage funding firm and seed accelerator that has successfully incubated over 2,000 startups around the world. Mentoring sessions were arranged for mentors of 500 Startups to guide startup teams in different fields. Taiwan Tech Demo Day was also held for Taiwan's startup teams to share ideas with venture capital firms in Silicon Valley.

Other than co-holding a pitch demo event with local accelerators, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) also invited members of important investment companies in Silicon Valley, such as SVT Angels and venture capital firms, with Taiwanese founders serving as mentors. Startup teams were divided into different groups for discussion with mentors according to four technology areas: AI, Smart Tech, Emerging AI, and Health Tech. Based on their experience in Silicon Valley, the mentors provided perspectives and suggestions for business development and connected the startup teams with resources in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem.

CES draws top talent in the tech industry, experts, and mainstream media from around the world every year. Future market trends can be predicted through close examination of technology products and R&D results of attending companies. This year, several emerging technologies set themselves apart from the rest: maturing AI technology, 5G-based smart home technology, groundbreaking VR technology, and 5G-equipped autonomous and electric vehicle technologies. On top of the eye-catching technologies, Eureka Park, a dedicated exhibit area for startups, was established this year. Forty countries hosted pavilions in which startup delegations of each country demonstrated their products and technologies. This year, two startup teams from Taiwan won the CES 2020 Innovation Awards: the second-time attending team led by Professor Wen-Liang Chen from National Chiao Tung University and the first-time attending team led by Professor Chen-Han Huang from National Central University. Through the four-day trade show, startup teams from Taiwan have attracted both media and the attendees' attention. Hopefully, innovative technologies and products of the startup teams can successfully enter the global market.

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