X-PITCH is one of the largest startup contests in Asia. Organised by Taiwan Accelerator (TA), the pitch competition is known as the X Games for Startups. Contestants go through 15-second, 60-second, and 3-minute pitches all the way to win awards and investments. In the past three events, the 60-second pitch has been held in TAIPEI 101 high-speed elevator and autonomous vehicle. This year, X-PITCH is the first in the world to use MRT train and Metaverse as the competition carrier.
This year’s theme is Tech for Good which highlights the challenges in the post-pandemic world and innovations that will make meaningful social impacts for the public good and sustainable development. Participating startups focus on applications and services that enable digital transformation around five categories, backed by AI, 5G, edge computing, VR/AR/XR, Web3, and next-gen technologies.
Also read: 18 X-PITCH startups raised crossborder funding
Semi-finalists represent diverse next-generation tech industries
Compared to 2021, the proportion of non-Asian teams has increased by five per cent, while the number of pre-seed startups decreased by five per cent. AI startups still account for half of the share, but next-generation tech rose sharply to 33 per cent from seven per cent last year.
It is exciting to see more new technologies emerge and enter the market. The percentage of Web3 startups is twice that of 2021, proving the rapid development of this field. On the application side, Banking/Commerce saw a notable increase of 14 per cent, while Consumer Lifestyle declined by nine per cent. These data provide some insight into current trends in innovation and entrepreneurship.
More than just a pitch competition
In the following weeks, semi-finalists will go through a series of activities to help the startups progress in their X-PITCH journey. Together with its partners, the startups will go through fundraising workshops, investor matching programs, country access webinars, corporate access programs, and online exhibitions.
To kick off the activities, a fundraising workshop will be held on October 29, 2022, to help prepare the startups for the investor matching program that will be facilitated by e27 through its Pro Connect.
The fundraising workshop on the 29th will cover the following topics:
- How to value your startup? This discussion will be led by Equidam, the official valuation partner for the competition.
- How to effectively reach out to investors? For this topic, e27 will lead the discussion to provide not just insights but a technical demonstration for the investor matching that will happen on e27.
Investor Matching on e27’s Pro Connect
As the official investor relations partner, e27 will be facilitating the investor matching program through Pro Connect. Pro Connect is one of the e27 Pro membership plans that gives its members access to 400+ active and verified investors and tools to assist startups in discovering and connecting with the right investors for their fundraising goals.
For X-PITCH Investor Matching Program (XIMP), the startups will be given complimentary access to Pro Connect to access a list of X-PITCH’s investment partners. They will be able to connect directly with the investors, schedule meetings, and manage the deal status for each investor.
After the investor matching program, the TOP150 startups will be able to continue their fundraising journey on their own and connect with more investors from e27’s 400+ active and verified investors in the region.
The grand finale
Ten awards will be presented at the Grand Finale on 10 November. The top three teams will win up to US$1 million in investments in total.
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