North American Taiwanese Engineering Association Hosts Startup Pitch-Off Event Sept. 9-10 with Former Evernote Founder, Former Facebook Lead


The North American Taiwanese Engineering Association (NATEA), a startup ecosystem-building program, is pleased to announce that it is jointly hosting the U.S. Taiwan Startup Forum (UTSF) 2021, a virtual showcase of 16 tech startups that were founded by Taiwanese and Taiwanese American entrepreneurs. The event will take place on Sept. 9 and 10 from 5 to 7 p.m. PDT. The event is free but registration is required. To register, visit https://www.utstartup.net.

The event will include two keynote speakers: Phil Libin, former CEO of Evernote and the current CEO of mmhmm and All Turtles, and Chieh Huang, CEO of Boxed. There will also be ten judges who are mostly top investors.

The 16 startups — which specialize in Artificial Intelligence, AR/VR, semiconductor, blockchain and IoT technologies — will showcase their technologies to U.S.-based investors and high-tech professionals attendees at the virtual event. Audience members will have the chance to meet startup founders at their digital booths on Filo, a virtual conference platform.

This year, the selected 16 startup teams were all founded by notable tech industry leaders. For example, Taelor, an AI-powered menswear rental subscription service, was founded by Anya Cheng. Before starting Taelor, Cheng helped build the famous Facebook shopping features and managed Target’s Silicon Valley product office. She brings her experience in innovative eCommerce to Taelor. For a flat monthly fee, Taelor’s customers can get personalized styling services from both professional stylists and artificial intelligence and they can wear eight shirts per month without the commitment of buying them. Another promising startup founded by Kari Wu, a former Adobe product manager, creates a video tool app that helps produce professional quality video clips from mobile devices within seconds.

Some other startups that will be part of the event, such as A.V. Mapping and Allies, were recently part of Berkeley SkyDeck, which was named in Forbes as one of the top five U.S. university accelerators. A.V. Mapping, which has won the Red-Dot Award for AI design, helps video producers find and license music directly from music owners. Allies helps people find out if their food is gluten-free in minutes.

Meanwhile, startups from the Plug and Play accelerator will also be joining this year’s summit. For example, BlockChain Security helps property managers with digital documentation using blockchain technology, AIPLUX facilitates companies to obtain foreign trade-marks, and KryptoGo helps banks with anti-money laundering (AML).

“This is a community event that helps to bridge minority founders, U.S. and Taiwan investors, and high-tech engineers,” said Rex Chen, president of NATEA Silicon Valley. While there are many startup pitch events in Silicon Valley, it is rare to offer a safe space for minority founders to learn and exchange ideas between Silicon Valley and Taiwan’s startup ecosystem.

The Sept. 9 event will feature the following eight startups with consumer products:

1. Taelor

An AI-powered menswear rental subscription that helps busy men look good without the commitment of buying clothes. It’s founded by Anya Cheng, a notable former Facebook Lead.

2. Filmlt

A videographer software that helps people, such as real estate agents, create videos for business purposes with AI-powered editing.

3. MAKAR by Mind & Idea Fly

An AR/VR content creation and editing tool for teachers.

4. Impakt

A computer vision platform for remote team play and activities.

5. A.V. Mapping

A one-stop AI video and audio mapping and music licensing platform for media, video and game creators.

6. Moov Mobility

An electric mobility program management technology. Its smart mobility network consists of shared bicycles, scooters and e-bikes.

7. Allis by TFT

A portable biochemical sensor that helps consumers detect if food is gluten-free in minutes.

8. BlockChain Security

A blockchain technology that helps property managers win court cases and get rid of bad tenants by proving the authenticity of leasing documents and communication records.

The Sept. 10 event will feature the following eight startups for the enterprise market.

1. Worca

A HR SaaS company that builds cross-border teams of elite talent and provides end-to-end global HR solutions.

2. Avalanche Computing

An AI development tool for companies to build AI faster.

3. Torkance Technologies

A technology for the memory industry for its thin film development, using new magnetic film measurement to enable rapid-turn around for STT-MRAM and SOT-MRAM technology development.

4. Lubn

A real estate management platform that enables smart connected home tours for every home at any time.

5. NADI

A 3D architecture solution that provides a realistic and virtual environment to improve the process of building a smart city effectively and efficiently.

6. KryptoGo

A compliance technology that helps financial service institutions, such as banks, to enhance money laundering prevention with Chinese language recognition.

7. Relajet

An audio technology that improves hearing-aid devices.

8. AIPLUX

A one-stop platform to help everyone file for cross-border trademark protection.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Lauren Carrane at hi@taelor.ai or call 954-554-0336.

UTSF 2021 Media Kit

Taelor’s Media Kit

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About the North America Taiwanese Engineering & Science Association (NATEA)

NATEA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Silicon Valley and has more than 10 chapters in North America. NATEA helps Taiwanese and Taiwanese American high-tech communities with leadership and technical skills as well as a platform for career assistance and entrepreneurship. NATEA hosts a wide variety of technology related events including semiconductor, blockchain, artificial intelligence as well as complementary skills in leadership and product management among others. http://www.natea.org

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