SPIN Accelerator Taiwan - Asia’s First Sports Accelerator First Cycle Demo Day, 10 New Startup Teams Demonstrate Their Products
By the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, R.O.C. (Taiwan)
SPIN Accelerator Taiwan’s First Cycle Demo Day was held at the Sports Administration on March 4, 2019. The 10 participating startup teams did their best to attract the attention of domestic and overseas business operators, scholars and experts. In the end, REMA, Fuelstation and Velodash emerged victorious; they will now represent Taiwan to travel abroad, showing the unlimited potential of Taiwan’s sports innovation.
In 2018, the Sports Administration commissioned National Chiao Tung University’s Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy (IAPS) and HYPE Sports Innovation (HYPE) to jointly establish SPIN Accelerator Taiwan. The aim was to utilize the technology network of IAPS and its experience of nurturing almost 100 startup teams to help the teams taking part in this project to carry out technological integration spanning technology, manufacturing and service industries and take advantage of HYPE’s international sports innovation resources to quickly enter the international market and offer more possibilities to Taiwan’s sports innovation.
The first cycle training project involved 10 outstanding Taiwan sports startup teams with potential, including Tromin and GoMore which specialize in sports data detection, Fuelstation which develops sports headphones, J-MEX which develops wearable devices, Joiiup which operates a sports community APP, 17Fit which develops a sports venue management APP, Body Breakthrough which operates an online fitness course APP, REMA which develops sports functional clothing, Velodash which operates a cycling community, and WUSA which specialize in research and development of technological bicycle pedals.
The first cycle training project included business preparation, actual operation, markets channels and other themed workshops; the teams also received one-on-one guidance from experienced entrepreneurs and, with regard to the operating mode, online guidance from HYPE’s international mentors was arranged to help them plan a strategy to attract potential investors. In addition, with respect to technology R&D and marketing, laboratory space for field verification and professional athletes as subjects was provided and arranged. Furthermore, in line with the needs of the teams, the teams were assisted to match with and link to well-known domestic and overseas enterprises and domestic sports universities, such as Google, Decathlon, Giant, National Taiwan Normal University and University of Taipei, etc.; there was also cooperation with relevant sports events to increase exposure and exchange opportunity for the teams.
At the demo day, the 10 startup teams that participated in training showed off their innovative sports products and services, and displayed the results of taking part in this project. The outstanding performance of each team made it difficult for the judging panel to decide the winners. In the end, REMA, Fuelstation and Velodash obtained the top three places. These three teams will be able to take part in the 2019 APEC Sports Policy Network (ASPN) workshop organized by the Sports Administration in June at the Philippines. Furthermore, these three teams will also be able to participate in the global sports innovation events organized by HYPE, demonstrating Taiwan’s sports innovation soft power to the world.