The National Development Council (NDC) launched the Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub in Palo Alto, California, on Monday. This marks the second overseas hub, following the establishment of the first in Tokyo in September of last year. NDC Director General Paul Liu (劉鏡清) attended the opening ceremony, where he was joined by American business leaders and startup entrepreneurs.
In his remarks, Liu highlighted Taiwan's impressive startup performance, noting that while global venture capital investment dropped 40% last year, Taiwan experienced a 10% growth. He forecasted a 20-30% growth this year, driven by Taiwan's strong capabilities in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.
Liu says the new Silicon Valley hub will showcase Taiwan's leading startups and attract global investors. He also aims to connect talent and resources between Silicon Valley and Taiwan, with plans to support over 100 startups and recruit at least 2,000 talented individuals to return to Taiwan.
Liu added that Nvidia has chosen Taiwan to establish an R&D center, which will require 1,000 engineers. Similarly, AMD plans to set up an R&D hub in Tainan, also needing 1,000 engineers. Additionally, Nvidia's Asia headquarters will be located in Taipei, with an estimated 2,500 employees. Liu says these investment projects reflect the growing demand for talent in Taiwan.