SynSense Wins VivaTech AI Championship, 34 Taiwanese Startups Target European Market

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) The Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in collaboration with the Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) of the National Science and Technology Council and the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Industrial Technology Research Institute, led 34 Taiwanese startups and supply chain partners to VivaTech 2026, Europe's largest startup and technology exhibition, held in Paris, France. Among them, SynSense, a startup nurtured by the SMEA, won the AI category championship in a global deep tech innovation competition, showcasing Taiwan's technological prowess.

The SMEA stated in a press release that this year's Taiwanese delegation exhibited under the theme "AI Taiwan," focusing on cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, net-zero sustainability, and smart healthcare. Through exhibitions, startup competitions, business matchmaking, and corporate visits, the delegation aimed to demonstrate Taiwan's innovative capacity in leveraging technology to address environmental, social, and health issues to the international market.

The SMEA mentioned that pre-exhibition training courses were arranged, covering product market positioning, business development, fundraising and negotiation, presentation optimization, and practical exercises. During the exhibition, the startups participated in the Global Deep Tech Battle, organized by the Swiss Pavilion. Four Taiwanese startups reached the finals, with SynSense ultimately securing the first place in the AI category.

The SMEA explained that SynSense utilizes artificial intelligence technology and self-developed high-precision scanners to convert real fabric materials and textures into digital fabrics with 98% realism. This technology addresses the waste and pollution issues caused by traditional textile industry's extensive physical sampling. The technology can shorten the apparel R&D cycle from 14 days to 48 hours, significantly reducing the costs of sample fabric production and international shipping, and promoting the fashion industry towards precision manufacturing and zero-waste models.

Furthermore, this year marks the 10th anniversary of VivaTech, and the event introduced the "Tech for Change Award" for the first time to recognize companies that use technology to solve environmental, social, and health issues.

Seven Taiwanese startups received certification, including Precision Bio-Tech, Apollo Power, Di-Watt Smart Tech, Raydant Optoelectronics, Ruitian Energy, Zhubao Intelligence, and the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, demonstrating Taiwan's innovative achievements in areas such as medical AI, energy management, privacy protection, green energy, and smart cities.

To deepen its European presence, the SMEA also led a delegation to Lille, a major AI hub in France, to attend an AI summit and engage with the local "AIoT Innovation Cluster" and a "National Startup Base." Five Taiwanese startups were selected to present their innovations, including Quanta Computing, Smile AI, Future Score, Taiwan Turing Chain, and Yuanyuan Technology, seeking cross-border cooperation opportunities through presentations and business matchmaking.

After concluding their French itinerary, the SMEA stated that the delegation, building on the cooperation foundation established by the "Memorandum of Understanding on SME and Startup Cooperation between Taiwan and Belgium" signed last year, led 10 startups focusing on health and medical care, AI applications, and green technology to Belgium for exchanges. Yesterday, the "Taiwan-Belgium Startup Exchange Forum" was held at the Taipei Representative Office in the EU, inviting representatives from local industries, government, and academia. In addition to deepening exchanges, organizations such as the Flanders Investment & Trade and business associations are expected to form delegations to visit Taiwan in the second half of this year to expand bilateral economic and startup cooperation. (Edited by Pan Yi-ching) 0623

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