The City of Taipei & Tesla Partner on New Clean Energy Startup Incubator
October 29th, 2018
The City of Taipei, Taiwan, has joined forces with Tesla to establish a new 1.5 hectare hub to help local startups find footing and get training for new energy ventures in the city.
Tesla is looking to the space as a new source for innovations that it can funnel into its suite of electric vehicle, battery, solar, and energy storage products. As companies, their products, and their innovations mature in the incubator, Tesla will have the first shot at the new tech. The single company that is already working out of the incubator is working with Tesla on its electric vehicle charging equipment and technology.
In exchange, Tesla moved into the new energy hub in August and built a new creative energy exhibition park, an electric vehicle experience center, and will put on workshops for the local college and university students. These workshops will give local students hands-on time with some of the most cutting-edge products and training in the new energy space.
The new startup incubator opened earlier this month with a single startup in residence, with the expectation that many more will arrive as operations at the hub ramp up in its first few weeks.
The new facility will make use of a former bus repair depot in the Neihu District of the city that was made available by the city government for the new startup incubator, according to Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Chin-rong. Lin said that the facility will continue to seek out startups for the space, which will focus on companies working in the new energy, new high-tech, and energy efficiency sectors. The incubator has capacity to support 9 startups concurrently.
The new incubator is yet another sign of how aggressively Taiwan is pushing forward into the new energy economy. This same enthusiasm and governmental support were on display at this year’s Energy Taiwan show in Taipei, where numerous Taiwanese companies showed off their technology, using the show as a platform to pull in new local partners and find new customers for their products abroad.
