AI, big data remain top drivers of Taiwan startup innovation: TIER

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data have ranked as the most common startup keywords in Taiwan for a fourth consecutive year, underscoring their central role in driving innovation, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER).

The findings come from the 2025 Taiwan Startup Ecosystem Survey, published on Friday and conducted annually since 2018 by TIER in collaboration with PwC Taiwan and DIGITIMES.

This year's survey focused on how startups are applying AI in practice, examining the specific technologies they deploy and the business scenarios in which they are used, TIER said in a statement.

The survey also analyzed how investors are assessing Taiwanese startups in the AI era, the thinktank added.

According to the survey, more than 80 percent of startups surveyed were involved in AI-related fields, showing that Taiwan startups apply AI as a key tool for operations and product innovation, as they have keen market awareness.

The survey also found that the top three overseas market targets for startups are Japan (51.2 percent), the United States (27.3 percent) and China (23.4 percent), reflecting that nearby and culturally familiar markets remain the preferred choice.

On the investment side, investment institutions showed the strongest interest in AI and big data, followed by the biotechnology and medical sectors, the survey indicated.

Among AI-focused investments, predictive analytics attracted the most attention at 36.4 percent, followed by visual recognition at 21.8 percent and generative AI at 20 percent.

The survey further revealed that general venture capital firms have shown greater interest in AI startups than corporate venture capital investors over the past two years, with 77.5 percent of general VC firms reporting investments in AI companies, compared with 24.5 percent of corporate venture investors.

TIER noted that AI and big data are increasingly applied across different startup sectors, primarily as tools for product and service design rather than as standalone technologies.

Most AI startups, it said, are focused on practical applications rather than developing general-purpose platforms or foundational technologies, reflecting an emphasis on embedding AI into existing industries.

However, TIER cautioned that AI alone is not sufficient to address all core challenges facing startups, which must still contend with issues such as market acceptance, inter-organizational coordination, and external partnerships.

Ultimately, competitive advantage depends not on the use of AI itself, but on whether products and services effectively meet market needs, TIER said.

The thinktank also highlighted a shift in corporate-startup collaboration from simple capital investment toward innovation-driven strategic partnerships, saying such a change could help strengthen corporate resilience and expand market reach as global markets continue to evolve rapidly.