Top 10 Unicorns In Taiwan
Unicorns:
1. Numbers Protocol
If an image is genuine because of image tampering, fake news, and disinformation. To address this, Numbers Protocol provides tools users can use to create tamper-proof media records. Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) selected Numbers Protocol as one of the 100 startups from Taiwan to exhibit at CES in 2021. Numbers Protocol is the only company in Taiwan with OpenChain 2.0 and MyData Operator certifications.
Founder and CEO of Numbers Protocol, Tammy Yang, says the objective of her company is to resolve the problem of ‘seeing no longer believing.’ The Numbers company developed a tracing framework including Capture, Seal, and Trace.
As part of its traceability framework, the company developed three products. First, when a media item is created, Numbers Capture records the creation date and starts a certificate with a unique signature.
With Numbers Seal API, immutable records of an item’s birth and change logs are secured with blockchain technology. We track the footprint of asset content from creation to archive with Numbers Trace API and dashboard service, and the service helps to reduce the need for verification effort. A unique certification ID is assigned to every piece of media content created with Numbers Capture. QR codes are used to verify this content when it is shared.
Secure and traceable Capture of digital images with a regular app
Similar to other camera applications, Capture can be operated by users. In addition to recording the location, time, and photographer when a picture is taken, the app will also provide additional metadata, making image traceability possible.
PostCapture is also capable of Capture, allowing users to generate unique digital postcards from digital images. Users own these digital postcards completely, thanks to the blockchain. Shared assets can be effectively transferred, just like any postcard. PostCapture, a feature in Capture App, should restore the original photographic work’s value and uniqueness.
Numbers Protocol has always endeavored to protect consumers’ privacy while using their phones. For example, the company created an app that allows patients to track COVID-related symptoms while avoiding cloud gathering.
As one of Asia’s only three MyData providers, Numbers enables users to own and reclaim control over their personal information. Most of Numbers Protocol’s products are open-source, providing users with even more transparency.
2. Acer
According to Gartner Inc, the fifth- and sixth-largest global PC suppliers are Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc.
Gartner’s research report dated Oct. 10 shows that Asustek’s shipments fell on a year-over-year basis, despite shipments for the period rising about 1 percent.
Acer, however, took a 6.2 percent share in the third quarter, up from 6.0 percent a year earlier and also up from 5.4 percent in the second quarter, according to Gartner, outperforming the global market with 4.21 million PCs shipped, down 4.4 percent from a year prior.
Asustek shipped 3.82 million PCs in the third quarter, representing a 5.6 percent global market share.
As of the second quarter of 2016, Asustek held a 5.9 percent share.
After a 1.5 percent increase in the second quarter, PC shipments grew 1.1 percent in July-September to 68.12 million units.
Announcing the results, Gartner’s Mikako Kitagawa, senior principal research analyst, said: “Windows 10 refresh cycles continue to fuel growth across all regions, though their magnitude varies by national market conditions and refresh cycle stage.”.
The Windows 10 refresh cycle and a pending change in sales tax were driving 55 percent growth in shipments in the Japanese market in the third quarter, Kitagawa said. The strong growth boosted global PC sales.
An analyst said neither CPU shortages nor China-US trade disputes negatively affected PC shipments. According to Kitagawa, “Intel CPU shortages have continued to ease, and the potential increase in tariffs on China-built mobile PCs has been pushed back to December 2019,” greatly reducing the impact on PC shipments.
AMT and Qualcomm, which previously controlled the PC market, have been able to reposition their processors due to the Intel CPU shortage.
Qualcomm’s partnership with Microsoft Corp has promoted Qualcomm’s Long-term Evolution capabilities.
Lenovo Group Ltd. shipped 16.81 million devices in the third quarter, up 5.8% yearly. The Chinese brand saw substantial growth in Japan, Latin America, and the larger Europe, Middle East, and Africa area.
According to Gartner, Lenovo had a 24.7 percent global market share as the leading PC supplier in the third quarter, up from 23.6 percent in the same period last year but down 25% from the second quarter.
With 15.26 million PCs shipped in the quarter, HP Inc. accounted for 22.4 percent of global shipments, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier.
It also accounted for 16.6 percent of global shipments in the second quarter, with 11.32 million PCs shipped, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier.
According to the data, Apple Inc. controlled 7.9 percent of the global market by shipping 5.10 million units, down 3.7 percent from a year earlier.
3. Perfect
With the merger announcement with Provident Acquisition Corp, Perfect Corp., a software company that provides artificial intelligence and augmented reality solutions for the beauty and fashion industries, will be valued at US$1.02 billion. It is expected that Perfect Corp. will receive gross proceeds of up to $335 million from the business combination.
Perfect Corp. Using AR and AI are transforming a new generation of fashion and beauty. Our SaaS solutions make shopping easier for consumers and brands alike. Meanwhile, both large and small brands can leverage omnichannel technology to deliver an enjoyable, convenient, and personalized shopping experience to their customers, says Alice Chang, Founder, and CEO of Perfect.
We anticipate that the merger with Provident will enable us not only to access the public capital markets but also to attract a broader range of investors, expand our market reach, gain expertise in AI & AR tech, and explore white space applications, such as adjacent fashion verticals and metaverses, stated Chang.
Michael Aw, CEO of Provident Corporation, explained that “Perfect Corp.’s proven track record of success partnering with the world’s leading beauty brands, its fast revenue growth, and growing profit margins, as well as its attractive valuation, make it an ideal combination.”
Founded in 2015, Perfect offers a range of beauty and fashion services, including 3D facial and hand modeling, artificial intelligence skin diagnostics and simulations, AR-enabled video consultations, and personalized product recommendations based on facial characteristics for cosmetics skincare, hair coloring, and fashion accessories segments.
Over 400 cosmetic brands in 80 countries use Perfect’s enterprise solutions, with 44 granted patents and additional pending patent applications. Globally, Perfect’s consumer apps have been downloaded more than 950 million times, up from 10 billion in 2014.
Furthermore, Perfect’s AR & AI-enabled solution is being applied across various internet platforms globally, including Snap Inc.’s Snapchat and Alibaba’s Taobao & Tmall Beauty. By leveraging these strategic partnerships, Perfect enables beauty brands to offer consumers one-stop beauty AR solutions across the most popular online platforms.
Among Perfect’s investors are CyberLink, Snapchat, Goldman Sachs, Alibaba Group, Yuanta Asia Investments, a Hong Kong-based private equity management company, and CCV Capital, a renowned investment firm specializing in the TMT sector.
Perfect Corp is a spin-off of Cyberlink with over 400 global brand customers and 280 employees in 11 countries and 12 cities worldwide.
Taiwan has been designated as the operation center by Perfect. Perfect will continue to hire talent in Taiwan and deliver service to customers worldwide, according to Alice Chang.
4. Gogoro
Joint ventures are expected to be established by the end of 2021 or early 2022 if all goes according to plan. Funding should be available by 2022. Delhi and Bengaluru are being identified for the initial rollout while the company finalizes the vehicle schedule.
An internal presentation to its investors, which ETAuto accessed, stated that Taiwanese electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc. would enter the world’s largest motorcycle market, India, in Q4 2022.
With the launch of the company’s two-wheelers powered by Gogoro’s battery-sharing infrastructure in India, the innovative startup, which s started in Taiwan in 2015, is preparing to enter the Indian market in a partnership with Hero MotoCorp, the country’s leading two-wheeler maker.
Using the SwapCos model, the company intends to establish a local joint venture by owning, financing, and operating the network in international markets. In addition, by combining hardware and perpetual license fees, Gogoro will receive upfront revenue from hardware and new opportunities for OEMs.
This business model allows Gogoro to provide hardware and software solutions, share its operational know-how, and offer turnkey solutions. In addition to providing distribution and branding, local support and operations, and equity investments, the OEM local partner will also focus on consumer acquisition and marketing.
They should establish the JV entity by 2021 or 2022, and funding will begin by 2022 if all goes according to plan. While the business is finalizing the vehicle timetable, it has decided on the cities for the initial rollout, Delhi and Bangalore, with 7,000 client touchpoints spread across India.
Gogoro, based in Taipei, is known for its cloud-connected battery management and swapping network, as well as its portable LEV swappable batteries and AI-driven operating system.
In Taiwan, the company generates 56 percent of its revenue from recurrent Swap & Go battery switching subscription services and 44 percent from outright hardware sales in the first year, according to its recurring revenue model.
The startup has launched a scooter-sharing service in Europe and battery-sharing in Japan in recent years.
The business, which has received funding from Temasek in Singapore and Sumitomo Corporation in Japan, believes that creating a foundation in China and India will allow it to “grow internationally with the benefit of partners and scale.” It teamed with two Chinese two-wheel car manufacturers to offer its battery-sharing infrastructure in May this year.
5. KKday
The Travel Experiences Platform, KKday Singapore, recently appointed AVIAREPS India as the company’s sales, marketing, and PR representative. We are an Asia-Pacific e-commerce leader specializing in mobile-first experiences for locals, with a primary goal of making travel more accessible and convenient for everyone.
Our company was the first to digitize tour, activity, and attraction information and bring it to everyone’s fingertips in 2014. A traveler can discover and book exciting experiences anywhere and anytime with KKday’s app. AVIAREPS has been appointed as our sales, marketing, and public relations representative in Indonesia and India. We trust they will do everything they can to strengthen our presence there. Wei Chun Liu, Co-Founder at KKday, says the company is looking forward to a host of collaboration opportunities in the future.
“We are delighted to be partnering with KKday Singapore and will work closely with them on enhancing their presence in India,” Ellona Pereira, Head, AVIAREPS India, said. The Indian market will well receive our extensive list of travel packages and leisure products, and we are confident of their success.”
Over 30,000 travel and leisure products and services are available on KKday in over 80 countries and 500 locations. Furthermore. Many of KKday’s products are geared toward the APAC region, focusing on Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. KKday sells everything from attraction tickets to transportation, SIM cards, cruises, and staycations. In addition, KKday offers traditional and simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, and a variety of other languages, on its multilingual websites and mobile apps.
The success of KKday is built on innovative products, a strong portfolio, and digital-first capabilities. KKday Singapore is looking forward to welcoming inbound tourists to Singapore as the borders open. The luxury Royal Caribbean cruise and Brickman Wonders of the World exhibition are among the products KKday offers
Several of Singapore’s most iconic landmarks are featured in Singapore Science Centre’s collection of 50 masterpieces, providing visitors with the chance to travel the world without a passport! In addition to attracting more Indian and Indonesian travelers to cruise in the region, they will extend Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas Singapore season for an entire year.
6. 91APP
After eight years of training in the market, the development of energy has been continuously recognized by customers and investors. The legal person circle has paid great attention to it and even considered it an undervalued Taiwanese unicorn. Finally, in May this year, the epidemic shrouded, breaking the downturn at the most painful moment.
Taiwan’s first SaaS start-up software company 91APP (stock code 6741, 91APP*-KY), was successfully listed on the OTC market. In just one month, the market value exceeded 400 100 million yuan. After becoming an e-commerce stock, it is second only to momo Fubon Media, setting a new milestone for Taiwan’s capital market. Compared with world-class SaaS service providers such as Salesforce and Adobe, the growth potential is promising.
New forces in the capital market
Founded in 2013, 91APP is the first retail software cloud service provider in Taiwan. The pioneering “Integration of Virtual and Reality OMO” as the core service has assisted the digital transformation of over 10,000 retail customers, quickly entered the e-commerce market and achieved full-channel operational benefits. As a result, its GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume, total e-commerce transaction volume) and revenue have been growing for five consecutive years, and profits have continued to increase.
91APP chose to IPO in Taiwan and received investor support after the IPO, proving that Taiwan’s capital market has begun to accept new SaaS innovations. As a result, Taiwan can nurture large-scale, high-quality software companies, attracting international investors’ attention to Taiwan, which makes it easier Many start-up software companies are getting excited and getting a boost. Now it is even higher to become the leader of Taiwan’s SaaS software industry, hoping to support more SaaS companies to advance in the capital market and form a new force in the Taiwan market.
He Yingqi, chairman of 91APP, said that Taiwan’s capital market was considered to only focus on the hardware manufacturing industry in the past. Although it has international companies such as TSMC and MediaTek, it is relatively unfamiliar with companies in the software service industry or other innovative models. As a result, it is pretty tricky to IPO in Taiwan. 91APP became the first listed SaaS service provider on the OTC market. It also broke the myth that the Taiwan market is too small to cultivate a large-scale software company and opened up new possibilities for Taiwan’s innovative industry and capital market.
The new force of retail after the epidemic
In addition, the 91APP IPO also shows another meaning: the retail industry’s recognition and need for the OMO model of virtual and real integration. Over the past few years, 91APP has assisted in upgrading the retail sector, provided:
- Virtual and real integration solutions.
- Witnessed brand achievements.
- Promoted the new power of OMO.
In the raging wave of this sudden epidemic, many brick-and-mortar retailers urgently need digital transformation. They have to change their past decades’ business strategies, break store restrictions, and invest heavily in digital transformation to enter e-commerce. However, retail brands have also been deployed ahead of time.
They have already deployed OMOs in advance. In the face of the fast and urgent epidemic, they can adjust the operation of e-commerce in stores to respond to it, reduce the overall operation damage, and even combine physical resources to make electricity Businesses grow against the trend.
According to the “91APP Retail Research”, since the outbreak of the epidemic, the growth rate of brand members from store to the official website or APP shopping has reached as high as 63%. The number of orders in the store has dropped rapidly, and the number of e-commerce orders has exceeded 50%, indicating that consumer behavior has changed drastically. 80% of a retail brand’s revenue comes from regular customers. Although the epidemic has made consumers afraid to go out, it does not mean there is no shopping demand. The key is whether the brand has found consumers through digital means.
In the past, store sales relied on the sales ability of clerks to have face-to-face contact with customers; online communication may seem distant, but 91APP’s “Store Assistant” tool can help store clerks to grasp consumers’ behavior on the Internet in advance, including Favorites list, open list of goods added to the shopping cart, etc., as well as historical transaction records of stores and e-commerce, so that you can accurately recommend products by clearly grasping consumers’ preferences;
when paired with additional sales tools such as points, gift certificates, and free shipping, the probability of transaction is even higher. High. Since the epidemic outbreak, some branded women’s clothing companies have decisively closed more than a dozen stores in Shuangbei, allowing all the clerks to work from home and use “clerk helpers” to continue doing business. Many of them can achieve 70-80% of the performance of the original stores.
Yingqi also pointed out that there is no golden period for transformation, and now is the best time. Under the influence of drastic changes in the market and the epidemic, the sooner it starts, the better prepared it will be for the future. The key to integrating virtual and real OMO is enabling physical retail brands to make good use of e-commerce, importing offline physical resources into online e-commerce, mastering omnichannel membership and data, and driving new business activities.
In 2007, e-commerce merchants called out “24-hour delivery” for the first time. After six years, some Shuangbei areas have achieved 6-hour delivery, but the speed seems to have reached the limit. The rhythm of buying in the morning and arriving in the evening can also meet the needs of most consumers.
However, the new coronavirus (COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus) has forced human beings to reshape the appearance of life and work. The nature of being too lazy to go out and the restriction of not going out have further highlighted the rising necessity of food delivery. It also shortened the patience of consumers again.
Now, brick-and-mortar retailers, including Quanlian, Carrefour, etc., call for 60-minute delivery, setting a new benchmark for delivery speed.
Why have e-commerce operators been able to shorten the delivery time from the number of days and hours for a long time while the brick-and-mortar retailers can go as fast as minutes? The distance between consumers is the crucial element.
As of the second quarter of 2021, momo has a total of 37 logistics warehouses in Taiwan; simultaneously, the number of stores in Quanlian has exceeded 1,000. “Theoretically, the store is next to consumers, so why can’t they deliver faster than e-commerce?” said Li Kunmou, product director of 91APP. 91APP, known as a “digital arms dealer,” has not only assisted tens of thousands of retail brands in building digital stores in the past but also assisted well-known brick-and-mortar retailers during the epidemic in creating an online system for quick delivery.
It sounds like a good development for the store to double as warehousing and strengthen the delivery speed. However, they cannot deny that the epidemic is still an important catalyst for transformation.
When they raised Taiwan’s epidemic prevention to a level 3 alert in May 2021, even consumers who had never contacted e-commerce began to learn about online shopping. For brick-and-mortar retailers, e-commerce deployment is a strategic priority, starting from important. Still, It was not urgent, but they suddenly elevated it to “important and urgent.”
Do a good job of 60 minutes to arrive, not to squeeze the e-commerce duo.
To switch from physical to online, Li Kunmou said, they “do not want to be PChome or momo, but to grasp their biggest advantage – retail.” However, sometimes advantages and disadvantages are just two sides of the same coin. Brick-and-mortar retailers quickly discovered two challenges from within, one was the system, and the other was the training of store personnel.
In the past, a store only needed to serve consumers who entered the store, and one system was more than enough. However, the system had to be changed when the store became a densely distributed satellite warehouse. For example, bottled milk tea is sold online and in stores. Should the products on the store shelves be included in the inventory? The milk tea in the store is sold out if it is included. Can it be updated online in real-time?
There is no standard answer to the calculation method. The model of each brick-and-mortar retailer is slightly different. The only certainty is that from POS (cash register system), WMS (warehouse management system), and ERP (enterprise resource planning) to online systems, there must be better links.
“For us, although we are doing B2B business, the system’s end users are store staff. We are unfamiliar with how to make them “smooth.” Therefore, in addition to listening to customer needs, 91APP asks your employees to go to the customer’s store site to support the cashier.
In addition to the use process, 91APP also found that users at different levels need different information, and shop assistants, warehouses, bosses, and store managers must have other interfaces. “It takes a little time to explore and make the system better. OMO (the integration of virtual and real) is worthless if it is broken. It is just trying to figure out what the store is doing.”
Also, because of his dealings with front-line store personnel, Li Kunmou reminded us that when store personnel wants to serve as selectors, they must rely on the company’s internal training because picking speed is very important. It is related to the number of orders processed per hour. The faster you go, the quicker you can achieve the goal of shipping.
API connects the core of retail and instantly meets the needs of fast commerce
As a system vendor, Li Kunmou is quite impressed with the progress of commerce, from physical stores, comprehensive e-commerce, and even headless e-commerce (that is, using chatbots, communities, live broadcasts, and other channels to divert traffic, quickly Acquiring and shipping, no longer relying on traditional e-commerce shopping pages), “Technology really can’t catch up, but the core of retail has never changed, that is, products, members, transactions, and data.”
Focusing on the core of the business, the next direction of 91APP is API (Application Programming Interface). Using the restaurant analogy, API is like a waiter, telling the kitchen (system) of the consumer’s meal (requirement) and then sending the feedback to the consumer.
“We have to become the core engine of transactions to meet the needs of fast commerce, whether it is LINE, Facebook, e-commerce, live broadcast, or even the future Metaverse store.” Moreover, Li Kunmou said this is the fastest way to assist. For example, customers to keep up with any latest developments, rather than carving out a product from scratch every time a customer asks for it.
Li Kunmou believes that APIization is also the beginning of the software industry chain. Large foreign technology companies also have complete API ports, allowing any manufacturer to have a way to connect and gradually expand the ecosystem. “We at least hope that in the B2B field of the retail industry, they will establish the industry chain, and the entire ecosystem will develop, which is also beneficial to us.”
Two keys to building a digital store in a physical store: system, store training
1. Grasp the four cores of retail “transactions, data, commodities, and members,” and do an excellent job connecting API (application programming interface) with new technologies, rather than creating products from scratch for every new technology or trend.
2. Create a system that is convenient for front-line personnel to use.
Even if it is a B2B system provider, the end-user is still the store staff, and it is best to understand their workflow and mode first
3. After optimizing the API, it can better connect all retail and e-commerce functions (payment, cash register system, CRM, etc.) to provide customers with the best service.
7. 17LIVE
The live broadcast platform 17LIVE held an online press conference today (10), announcing that it will carry out the brand remodeling. In the future, Japan will be the global operation headquarters, unify the global brand name, and a new LOGO will be launched.
Hiroshi Ono, Global CEO of 17LIVE Group, said: “17LIVE was established in Taiwan in 2015 and entered the Japanese market in 2017. Now, more than 50 million registered users worldwide, more than 900 employees and six global regions (Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Delhi, and Singapore) to set up offices. Now that the headquarters operations are also transferred to Japan, 17LIVE will expand live broadcast technology and applications as a global enterprise.”
The Taiwanese flavor is desalinated and desalinated again, and 17LIVE will move its operating headquarters to Japan.
This was also the only time they mentioned the name of Taiwan in the entire press conference. 17LIVE, founded in Taiwan, after several waves of corporate adjustments, including changing its name from M17 to 17LIVE, Ma Ji’s big brother Huang Licheng selling equity, and the announcement that it will move its operating headquarters to Japan, Taiwan’s role has been diluted and diluted, 17LIVE has almost It is a Japanese company. However, 17LIVE also emphasized: “There will be no impact on Taiwan, and Taiwan will continue to play a role in product development and technological innovation.”
“17LIVE is a Japanese live broadcast market leader and will also become an international enterprise. Specifically, 17LIVE will use Japan as the group headquarters and Japan’s experience and knowledge to develop new live broadcast and communication methods, which is our next step. The goal to be carried out at the stage.” Ono Yushi said.
17LIVE has also announced a new brand identity, including the unification of global names. In the past, 17LIVE had different brand names depending on the region, such as “イチナナライブ (Ichi-nana live)” in Japan, “17LIVE” in Taiwan, and LIVIT in the United States. Now, the company name and APP will be renamed “17LIVE (unified English pronunciation: one seven live)” to strengthen the global brand image of 17LIVE comprehensively.
The newly unveiled brand logo is mainly red and white. “Red represents the icon of live broadcast and video On Air. The live broadcast is very similar to life. There is no script, and no one knows what will happen in the next second. So interesting. The live broadcast technology can share every second with people worldwide, allowing the world to enjoy every moment.” Ono Yuji said.
Entering Southeast Asian markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia, aiming to become a leading brand within 3 years
17LIVE also officially entered the Malaysian market in August this year. The number of newly registered users in the local area has increased by 4 times, and the number of LIVER (live broadcasters) has increased by 2 times. Today, it also announced that it would simultaneously enter Singapore and the Philippines markets.
In addition, after 17LIVE’s voice live broadcast platform Wave entered Indonesia in May this year, its users have overgrown. Jianlin Lian, CEO of 17LIVE Taiwan and Southeast Asia, said, “17LIVE and Wave have taken the first step of success in Southeast Asia and will drive the growth in the future. With more business opportunities and cooperation, we will continue to expand into other markets in Southeast Asia and aim to become the leading brand in the local live streaming entertainment platform within three years.”
In addition to amateur live broadcasts, 17LIVE has strengthened its training program. The “Advanced Music Course Training Program” has cultivated more exquisite and high-quality talents of music LIVERs (live broadcasters). Furthermore, to strengthen the music content improvement plan, 17LIVE and Taiwan Warner Music have cross-border cooperation, inviting Lin Fan after the golden song healing song to serve as a professional music tutor, and the overall styling planning of hiring a fashion team will bring more quality live content.
8. Wondercise
The spread of the global epidemic in 2020 has changed many people’s living habits, and “fitness” is one of them. Recalling that home fitness became a last resort for fitness enthusiasts when the epidemic was tense. “Many people have two major pain points when exercising at home: they don’t know if they are practicing right, and there is no one else to practice with.” Wondercise founder Zhuang Longfei pointed out.
In response to the problems brought about by the epidemic, Wondercise moved the gym into the living room. Just by combining the mobile phone with the wearable device, you can instantly compare the movements of personal and professional trainers through online live broadcast or on-demand (video on demand) courses; It also adds powerful community and friendship elements, provides multi-person simultaneous connection and coach video guidance, interacts with peers and coaches while exercising, and can watch real-time rankings, which is quite a PK competition.
Since the settlement, the number of platform members has reached 60,000, the cumulative number of App downloads has reached nearly 80,000, and the user activity index is greater than 20%.
Zhuang Longfei recalled that in 2015, he founded Wanda Kang Wonder Core. At first, he mainly sold fitness equipment. Later, he was optimistic about people’s future demand for fitness courses and started creating content. Finally, he found that there are already overwhelming free fitness materials on the Internet. “Where are my thresholds and competitive advantages? Why should people spend money to buy my content?” Zhuang Longfei said that this was the first question he asked himself.
In addition, Zhuang Longfei also mentioned that most of the home fitness brands on the market bundle content subscriptions with the hardware equipment. So, for example, to see Peloton’s fitness content, you must first have a flywheel.
To create content differences and lower the threshold for entry, Wondercise’s fitness content is mainly based on aerobics, boxing, and other courses that do not require equipment and directly use the common Apple Watch and Garmin watches on the market as a tool to detect students’ fitness status. tool.
Its wearable device incorporates Live Motion Matching technology, which uses dynamic sensing technology to detect user movements and achieve real-time action comparison. As long as users choose online courses, they can enjoy a very immersive action demonstration at home, which is displayed on the screen. View real-time sports performance and real-time heart rate, and can also remind the trainer whether the movement is correct at any time.
Zhuang Longfei, for example, judging from the feedback from users, the most interactive function is the ” real-time evaluation score ” on the screen: through Apple Watch, Garmin watches to capture data such as direction and acceleration, the algorithm will compare the data with the coach’s Actions are compared in real-time, and action completion and accuracy are displayed on the screen as a score. In this way, the coaches in the live broadcast room and the students watching the pre-recorded videos can keep abreast of the sports performance at any time.
In the future, Wondercise will also actively develop visual comparison technology, allowing users to detect heart rate as long as the camera is turned on to further lower the threshold for users to get started and optimize the entire experience process.
“Our content has been compared and interacted with, but we still exercise alone on the screen in the end.” Zhuang Longfei pointed out, “Exercise still needs a group of people to be more fun.”
With this idea in mind, Wondercise launched the Studio ” interactive intelligent training system, “which combines fitness with the community. Users can choose on-demand fitness video streaming courses or ongoing online live classes with coaches and people from all over the world.
Hundreds of users are sweating and competing in the same field, and they can instantly see the rankings and personal sports data between users. Three or five friends can also practice video and voice together, send love to encourage each other, and track other users to expand their friendship circle.
Zhuang Longfei mentioned that in the future, he would like to extend the concept of community to offline. He expects to set up an offline live broadcast studio and gym in the city center in the second half of the year so that users can choose to take physical classes or watch live broadcasts online, breaking the virtual and real. “In this way, I can also create higher benefits than others. For example, others may only accept 20 students for a class. I can get more people to come to the class through the online platform,” he said.
In addition, this approach allows the content of the coach’s course to be seen by more people and generates more income; for users, it also breaks the geographical restrictions. Even if people are in Taipei, they can participate in the courses of overseas coaches. Its platform aims to gain more high-quality content and users and create a win-win situation.
“The future is the era of big health, and our role is to use technology for fitness to maximize the effectiveness of exercise. ” Zhuang Longfei believes that the fitness industry will continue to flourish in the future, and there is a lot of room for growth.
At present, Wondercise hopes to continue to deepen the Taiwan market, establish a solid community base, and move towards entering overseas markets in the future.
9. InfuseAI
InfuseAI provides an easy-to-use AI development environment for enterprises, allowing users to omit the installation process while supporting a variety of the latest software and hardware specifications, which can effectively manage data, control computing resources and data sets, and is scalable.
Business leaders looking for ways to drive organizational performance are enthusiastic about AI and machine learning. However, the same study also found that just 6% of respondents had implemented AI technology within their business. Yet, 95% of executives and IT decision-makers believe their companies would benefit from implementing AI into daily operations – yet only 6% had done so.
While many organizations are enthusiastic about AI and machine learning, they still find implementing and managing it challenging, particularly at scale. MLOps comes into play here.
To make machine learning more practical and effective, MLOps is a term that combines “machine learning” and “information technology operations.” It enables data scientists and IT professionals to work together to improve collaboration and industrialize machine learning.
InfuseAI is an MLOps provider we’re excited to work with – a Taiwan-based startup that helps enterprises manage the workflow from prototyping to production by providing workflow management tools.
With the advent of the era of artificial intelligence, the demand for enterprises to create an AI work environment is increasing. The new team InfuseAI provides easy-to-use software solutions, which lowers the threshold for enterprises to import AI/ML technology, and can be applied without a complicated and boring installation process. Artificial intelligence technology to meet the required applications.
Gao Jialiang, CEO and co-founder of InfuseAI, is a well-known free software programmer in Taiwan. In addition to developing the Xcin input method, he is also the founder of the control system SVK. With rich experience in entrepreneurship and programming, he has not only studied technology but also actively promoted the Taiwan Open Source community.
In recent years, he hopes to use technology to encourage healthy exchanges between the people and the government and promote continuous progress of freedom and democracy. The nickname of the zero-hour government g0v community As Village Chief Gao, he and many partners, have spent a lot of effort and combined the power of domestic and foreign citizens’ technology and technology communities.
Due to years of research in technology, Gao Jialiang observed that more and more companies have wanted to invest in AI in the past two years. Still, they often have limited results due to misplaced resources or improper implementation of strategies and strategies. Therefore, he joined Xue Liangbin, another chief operating officer and co-founder. They had founded the well-known ticketing website KKTIX (now acquired by KKBOX) and possessed first-class Ruby on Rails technology to establish InfuseAI.
“When you install solutions A, B, and C in sequence, it turns out that the best solution is D. This is the most common problem encountered by companies entering the AI field.” Xue Liangbin mentioned that in the market, a company If you want to invest in the field of AI, you often think that you can do everything by buying expensive machines and hiring data scientists at high salaries.
However, after the operation, it is discovered that technical experts are limited in their fields, and it is impossible to solve everything purely by the workforce. . Given this, starting from this pain point, they provide infrastructure services that enterprises can quickly build a machine learning environment to solve the intermediate technology gap.
But how do we lower the threshold for enterprises to create an AI environment? InfuseAI launched the PrimeHub machine learning platform. Users can quickly create an integrated machine learning environment using various basic modules in the platform. In addition to module tools, the platform also makes customized services according to user needs. The six major solutions include:
Quickly open the jupyter Notebook environment
jupyter Notebook is a coding tool between an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and an editor (Editor). Users can write programs directly through the jupyter Notebook tool without installing software alone. This tool is beneficial to research laboratories and teaching sites and can easily present research data and results in visual charts, linear regression, etc.
A variety of hardware specifications and deep learning frameworks to choose from
Users do not need to assemble hardware and download software alone, saving labor and time-consuming processes. In addition, PrimeHub supports a variety of mainstream deep learning frameworks, including providing Docker Image management environment settings and other customization options, so technicians can choose the way that best meets their needs to build an enterprise machine learning environment.
Manage data more effectively and avoid data omissions
In the field of machine learning, datasets contain a large number of pictures, text, audio, and video files. Therefore, problems such as file omissions, changes, or damages often occur when sharing and sharing. To solve this problem, PrimeHub Supports administrators in creating and uploading data sets and opening expert downloads in a form similar to the “only folder.” Unless the administrator delegates authority, the content cannot be changed, ensuring unified file access. This capability helps businesses manage large datasets more efficiently and provides that machine learning points to the same results.
Easily share information with internal and external collaborators
PrimeHub connects other network service account systems, such as LDAP, AD, Google, etc., to lower the entry threshold for users so that users can use the original account to log in and collaborate. At the same time, administrators can customize user permissions, add guest accounts, and set expiration times and accessible data.
Quotas control hardware resources.
Ideally, one machine is dedicated to handling one project, but it is often used for multiple purposes in practice. Uneven distribution of resources not only wastes time but also delays projects. PrimeHub allocates hardware resources to different projects through scheduling. For example, a company has 20 GPUs, other CPUs, and other capacity devices. The platform can set 10 for group A, and 10 for group B. Group C reduces resource waste and ineffectiveness.
High Scalability, High Availability, and High Service Reliability
In addition to the above support and services, PrimeHub provides analysis charts and built-in mechanisms such as automatic troubleshooting and decentralized data storage. Enterprises can set availability and scalability in the software. When upgrading the system version, they can also stop specific servers and only maintain a continuous operation so that operations will not be interrupted and resources can be appropriately allocated and used.
Continue to polish the product and differentiate it from other competitors.
The primary business model of InfuseAI is B2B, which sells PrimeHub software and services to enterprises and units that have information, specific hardware equipment, and want to create a machine learning environment. Xue Liangbin said: “Even though there are more and more related open source tools, enterprises still have customization requirements.
How to make the hands-on steps simpler and faster is what InfuseAI wants to do .” Wanting to tap into the potential customer base in the AI field, the team plans to cooperate with hardware manufacturers in the future to expand customer sources through software and hardware integration, meet the needs of more enterprises, and differentiate itself from competitors who only provide SaaS services.
They are mainly for the financial and educational industries, and the Taiwan Artificial Intelligence School is one of their customers. In the short term, they will seek more customers from traditional sectors, academic research, and educational institutions in Taiwan. After the foundation is stabilized, it will further expand to the world. Participating in international large-scale technology forums, developer activities, etc., will actively strive for exposure and create a multinational software—supply company.
10. IKALA
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, IKALA Interactive Media Inc., which uses AI technology to analyze online customer data, announced it had established a new commerce division after its revenue rose 45 percent annually in the first quarter due to increases in demand for online shopping, gaming, and e-learning.
Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore are enjoying rapid growth in AI-powered social commerce, according to iKala.
Last month, Facebook Shops made it possible for Facebook and Instagram users to shop without leaving the apps instead of navigating to Amazon.com Inc.
iKala co-founder and chief executive officer Sega Cheng (Cheng Shijia ) said at a news briefing in Taipei that after the pandemic broke out early this year, “enterprises are accelerating digitization and boosting digital marketing to meet demand.”
According to Cheng, e-commerce, gaming, and e-learning growth rates rose from 20 to 40 percent annually in the first quarter.
One of IKALA’s customers is Momo.com (Fubon Media). The other is Sinyi Realty Inc (Xinyi Housing).
Earlier this year, Chien Lee-Feng, former manager of Google Taiwan, was appointed to its board of directors.
A third AI company, Appier Inc., is also run by Chien.
iKala Commerce creates personalized experiences for customers by recording their behavior, the company said, using artificial intelligence. The company said that its customers, mainly e-commerce retailers, can access customer information and gather personal information to provide them with customized services and content.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
