Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan 2017 Event Recap

On November 18th, 2017, the CCCT’s small business committee hosted the second annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan event in partnership with Meet Taipei and Business Next Magazine. Read more about Business Next’s write-up on Dragons Chamber Taiwan.

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan is a competition where local businesses pitch ideas, strategies, and their own business models to a panel of expert judges. By participating in this event, local entrepreneurs are able to make connections with other business executives while also receiving valuable insights from experts in operating businesses in Taiwan.

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan is open to a wide range of small businesses including, restaurants, start-ups, consulting companies, education, professional services, design, import/export, manufacturing, or any other organization — as long as they have a legitimate business model.

This event is especially useful to the foreign community here in Taiwan, as starting a business abroad sometimes poses many challenges. Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan essentially provides a forum for business executives to attract attention to their business, while also gaining new insights and perspectives about how to advance their strategies and business models.

This year’s Dragons (the judges) came from a variety of business backgrounds providing valuable commentary and thought-proving questions to this year’s contestants.

The Dragons were: Kelvin Sun – Vice President of WI Harper Group; Revital Golan- founder and CEO of Anemone Ventures; David Bostwick – Director of Trade and Investment at CTOT, and Elias EK- co-founder and CEO of Enspyre.

This year the Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan had five teams participating in the competition:

 MemePr  is an artificial intelligence marketing platform connecting enterprises with top global marketers. By using a computer robot, they are able to quickly and efficiently connect businesses to marketing influencers.

With partnerships in the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, and more, MemePr strives to save their members time by connecting business to these major global marketing networks.


Eatsmart is a company whose mission is to help busy people eat healthy on the go. By providing wholesome lunch boxes, their clients can select various menus to fit their dietary needs and goals.

Eat Smart’s chefs are trained in France and they offer a diversified menu specializing in European cuisine. Furthermore, the ingredients are locally sourced in Taiwan to ensure that the food is fresh upon delivery.


Woodpecker Learning provides a platform where the user can interact with online content to enhance language learning. This platform is designed for both teachers and students to make learning a language more engaging and practical.

It is also geared towards advanced learners who want to have a better understanding of digital content that is originally geared towards native speakers.

On this application users can learn English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese with lessons in Russian to be offered in the near future.


KP Kitchen Taiwan is the place to buy familiar Western cooking and baking DIY kits. In Taiwan many home cooks struggle adjusting to small and cramped kitchens and also finding familiar ingredients for the recipes they love.

KP Kitchen has solved this problem by providing DIY sets for making recipes such as brownies, muffins, cakes, breads, and more!

The best part is that all of these recipes are tested and adopted to be made in toaster ovens or other appliances that are common in Taiwan. KP kitchen also offers delicious spice mixes which are all produced locally with love.


 My Room Abroad is a platform that connects international student to certified landlords.

Finding an apartment in a foreign country can be difficult for students, so My Room Abroad aims to alleviate this problem by providing a one-stop website where clients can search for their room and pay deposits and rental fees online.

My Room Abroad originated in Taiwan, and they are looking to expand to other countries in Asia.


All of the teams labored arduously  on their presentations and they engaged in thoughtful discussion while answering some tough questions from the dragon judges. However, only one team could finish as the first place winner.

This year the grand prize was awarded to Woodpecker Learning, with second prize to Eat Fresh, and third prize to My Room Abroad. The KP Kitchen and MemePr teams were also awarded prizes for their efforts.

In an interview with Peter Sutton from Woodpecker Learning, he provided some valuable insights for those interested in participating in next year’s Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan.

I came here just in the audience last year, and it was very interesting and  I enjoyed it. So I would definitely recommend anyone who has a business to come. Even if they think they might not win, it is a great venue to promote your product, and it is a great way to get experience.

Peter Sutton also provided a comment on how he felt to win first place at the 2017 Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan event.

There were some interesting people in the audience today, both from the point of view from the education sector and also from the point of view of investing. So we would like to follow up with them for partnerships. And I think it is going to be good publicity to win this, and hopefully people will download or app.


On behalf of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Taiwan, we would like to give our thanks and appreciation to everyone who made this event such a success. First, a thanks to our Gold Sponsors: FutureWard, JusRegal, Anemone Ventures, and Musa Trademark who all donated prizes for the top contestants.

Also we would like to thank our Silver sponsors for their contributions: DDG, Geber Brand Consulting, and  Pachuco.

Finally, we would like to thank the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei for partnering with the CCCT to make the 2017 Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan a tremendous success.

We hope to continue to see more small businesses come and compete in Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan in 2018!

 

 

 

2nd Annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our 2nd Annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan event on Saturday, November 18th from 1:00pm – 4:00pm at Taipei Expo Dome.

English: http://www.enexpopark.taipei/archive.aspx?uid=143
Chinese: http://www.expopark.taipei/archive.aspx?uid=90

Entrance to the event this year will be free!

Our event is part of Business Next magazine’s three-day Meet Taipei Start-up Conference that is held every year. Business Next Magazine has kindly given us the use of their Orange Stage on November 18th to host our 2nd Annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan.

We are accepting applications for the event until October, 15th 2017. To register your team to compete you need to fill out and application on our website: https://dragonschambertaiwan.com/

The 1st place prize this year will be $30,000 NT. Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan's Dragons' Chamber Taiwan
This event is modeled after the Canadian TV show, Dragons’ Den.

Taiwan has a vibrant and growing startup scene. However, it is still hard for entrepreneurs to raise the seed money they need to get started. It is even harder if you are a foreign entrepreneur with fewer family around and basically no chance to borrow from the bank.

Dragons’ Chamber will work to bridge the fundraising gap for entrepreneurs who need to raise up to NTD5 million. The initiative takers to this event are experienced foreign entrepreneurs who have lived in Taiwan for many years and who understand the challenges of fundraising.

Are you an entrepreneur ready to enter the Dragon’s Chamber, and make that big pitch for your idea? Then this is for you!

At Dragon’s Chamber Taiwan, the aim is to provide a forum for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas in the hopes of connecting with the right people to help them turn their ideas into a reality.

The event is open to a diverse range of business models, from low-cost technology start-ups, to restaurants, consulting companies, professional services, design, import/export, light manufacturing, or anything else at all – as long as there is a legitimate business plan.

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan: Venture Capital and Angel Investor Workshop

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan

Venture Capital and Angel Investor Workshop:

How to Secure Funding for your Business in Taiwan

www.dragonschambertaiwan.com

Wed March 8, 2017 7:30pm


UPDATE: SOLD OUT as of FEB 21st at 2:50pm.

**Contact info@canchamtw.com if you’d like to be involved in our next Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan workshop.


Location: Enspyre Headquarters, 12F, #181 Fuxing North Road, Taipei City

Tickets: Free

RSVP: Required

Are you interested in learning how to find and land venture capital or angel investor money for your business? Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan, which is hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, is an annual start-up competition focusing on foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan.

The CCCT and its Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan Committee is teaming up with Elias Ek of Enspyre, to present a series of workshops this year that are aimed at helping entrepreneurs navigate the maze of securing funding for their ventures.

For the first workshop in the series, we have invited actual venture capital investors, angel investors, and foreign entrepreneurs who have successfully secured funding from these sources, to come in and discuss the real-world nuts and bolts of finding and securing funding for a business. If you currently have a new business or are planning to start one, you will definitely want to take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear from industry experts and people who have successful landed funding.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan's Dragons' Chamber Taiwan

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan Speakers:

Kelvin Sun – Senior Associate at WI Harper Group

WI Harper Group focuses on early- and expansion-stage investments in companies with significant operations in China. The firm invests primarily in information technology, medical technology, healthcare services and clean technology. They seek to invest in technology-driven companies at early, early growth and expansion stages. WI Harper has invested in several companies founded by foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan.

Nick Budden – Co-Founder of Vectr

Vectr is a free, collaborative, vector graphics editor, for both web & desktop. After traveling the world as a freelancer for 3 years, Nick decided that Taiwan was the right place to create his own company. Armed with funding from US investors, Vectr began building a team in Taiwan. Vectr is a free, collaborative, vector graphics editor, for both web and desktop.

Sean Moss-Pultz – CEO of Bitmark  

Enabling digital ownership of every type of data Moss Pultz has lived in Taiwan for over a decade and is now the CEO of Bitmark. In 2016, Bitmark raised USD1.7 Million from various investors, including WI Harper. The company enables ownership of every type of digital data, be it digital art, personal health location data, or a digital trust of your digital wealth.

Tero Aalltonen – Founder and CEO of Augmenta 

Augmenta develops AR solutions for smart-glasses. Originally from Finland, now based in Taipei, Tero is a serial entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the high tech industry, having worked in various capacities over the years, from engineering to sales, and from startups to industry heavyweights. Augmenta has already secured two rounds of venture capital funding, and is currently working on a third round of funding.

 

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan

The CCCT’s Small Business Committee (SBC) invites you to attend our Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan event.

Date & Time: Saturday, November 19th 2:30pm – 4:30pm

The event will be part of the Meet Taipei Start-up Convention at Taipei Expo Dome.

This event will take place on the Pink Stage from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.

Venue: No. 1 Yumen St., Zhongshan District, Taipei City
台北市中山區玉門街1號

Admission: $500 NT – Please sign up at: http://www.accupass.com/go/dragonschambertaiwan OR purchase tickets directly from CCCT Dragons’ Chamber committee members: John Kellenberger, Elias Ek, Josh Yang, Sean M. King, Carrie Kellenberger and Alex Chen-Long.

Contact info@cancham.tw to find out how to reach our committee members for tickets.

Note that tickets are normally NT$1,000. Your ticket gets you into all of the events and presentations on Saturday, November 19th, including Dragons’ Chamber.

Taiwan has a vibrant and growing startup scene. However, it is still hard for entrepreneurs to raise the seed money they need to get started. It is even harder if you are a foreign entrepreneur with fewer family around and basically no chance to borrow from the bank.

Dragons’ Chamber will work to bridge the fundraising gap for entrepreneurs who need to raise up to NTD5 million. The initiative takers to this event are experienced foreign entrepreneurs who have lived in Taiwan for many years and who understand the challenges of fundraising.

Are you an entrepreneur ready to enter the Dragon’s Chamber, and make that big pitch for your idea? Then this is for you!

At Dragon’s Chamber Taiwan, the aim is to provide a forum for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas in the hopes of connecting with the right people to help them turn their ideas into a reality. The event is open to a diverse range of business models, from low-cost technology start-ups, to restaurants, consulting companies, professional services, design, import/export, light manufacturing, or anything else at all – as long as there is a legitimate business plan.

Our Application Submission Deadline to pitch your idea and present to our Dragons is now closed, but you can still join us by coming to watch how the event unfolds.

We have five excellent teams that have been coached, prepped, and are ready to present!

Organized by:

Canadian Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan
CCCT’s Small Business Committee
Elias Ek of Enspyre
Reach To Teach Recruiting
Business Next Magazine

Event Sponsors:

Our event sponsors have kindly donated the following prizes to the three best teams.

  • JusRegal – 50% of business registration for a new company
  • FutureWard – 3 months of co-working space membership (Futureward)
  • Enspyre – 3 months of phone answering service for B2C or $30,000NT gift card for B2B to reach Taiwanese customers