The political and business engagement of the Czech Republic with Taiwan has the first concrete results. State-run venture capital fund Taiwania Capital is finalizing two investments in local startups, according to E15 information. It will be transactions in the order of hundreds of millions of crowns. The Taiwanese are building on their first start-up investment in the region, when Taiwania Capital led a $19 million investment round in Slovakian firm Photoneo in January.

Taiwania Capital is a fund set up by the Taiwan government. Around the world, it invests through six different sections. The CEE Fund is focused on the Czech Republic, which has 200 million dollars (4.6 billion crowns) available for investment in Central and Eastern Europe. Up to 80 percent of that amount is to go to the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia. “This is due to good relations with Taiwan,” explained Tomas Vancho, investment manager at Taiwania Capital.

In the Czech Republic, Taiwanese are planning to invest in Vrgineers, a Prague-based company that develops professional virtual reality glasses used by the US military for pilot training, for example. The event is in the running, interested parties are not commenting on it.

“I cannot comment on the input of other investors. However, my involvement in Vrgineers will be higher than it is now. I'm investing more,” said VSHosting CEO Damir Špoljarič, who has invested in the VR startup in the past. He was part of a wave when, for example, Daniel Vávra from Warhorse Studios and 3D printer manufacturer Prusa Research joined the startup.

The second investment will go to Slovakia. Sensoneo, a startup developing sensors and software for smart collection and waste management, is set to raise $4 million in a new investment round.

Managing partner of CEE fund Taiwania Capital Mitch Yang is going to Prague in the coming weeks. It wants to establish relations with Czech venture capital funds with which it would be possible to make joint investments. “We are already in contact with Credo Ventures and intend to reach out to other funds,” Yang told E15 at a meeting in Taipei.

While the outlook for the flow of money into the Czech Republic, or the region, is good news, there is a slight skepticism in the market as to whether the Taiwanese will be able to redeem their billions here. Taiwania Capital primarily focuses on series A investment rounds, which amount to around $10 million. However, it is unclear whether there are so many startups in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at this stage.

“We found a fairly unoccupied place. The initial seed rounds are covered by investors in the Czech Republic. Large funds from the USA and London are already interested in advanced Series C bikes. Series A has yet to receive much attention. We are willing to go to this stage,” explained Taiwania Capital's global investment manager Eric Hung. “The Czechs want to grow and they are ready,” he added.

Some specific Czech startups are interested in cooperation with the Taiwan State Fund. Tropic Square is developing its own security chip. The Taiwanese company UMC has already produced functional test samples and is preparing for mass production. The Series A investment round is underway. “We are in talks with Taiwania Capital,” said Ejen Englberth, Managing Director of Tropic Square.

The CEO of Prague software company Ackee Martin Půlpitel also arrived in Taipei as part of the delegation of Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09). The latter is among our largest custom mobile and web application developers (iShipping, Bundestag, Voyo, Damme food and

next), but has now created a spin-off in the form of Passwd. It is a password management tool linked to Google Workspace. “We have paying customers from all over the world, we have started looking for investors to expand and we have been in discussions with Taiwania Capital,” Halfpitel summed up.

‍