Despite the world-class solutions that Nordic Healthtech companies offer, they still face difficulties when entering the Asian market. Current challenges include: lack of information, network and resources to identify relevant opportunities and access to Asia. The challenge is also seen from the Asian stakeholders’ perspective, who lack knowledge on Nordic solutions and capabilities.
According to Innovation Lab Asia’s latest research opportunities for companies to commercialize into the Asian region are very good, not just from a market and funding perspective, but also in terms of product development, as healthcare systems in Asia are becoming increasingly innovative.
Both Taiwan and the China Bay Area are manufacturing areas with local governments eager to do proof of concepts with foreign startups. Taiwan is seen as an region filled with untapped potential and a booming startup ecosystem — the country has a stable business environment and costs are relatively lower than Korea and Japan.
Accessing these regions will provide unique opportunities for product development, prototyping and production for both the Asian and European market.
#Nordicmade wants to bridge the gap between Nordic healthtech companies and Asian stakeholders.
#NordicMade is a community-run nonprofit that has been promoting the Nordic startup ecosystem since 2015. Under the “one-hashtag to unite them all” promise, #NordicMade has been uniting the Nordic community players, startup stories and cultural highlights that have helped to make the Nordic region more attractive for international talent, cross-border collaboration and foreign investments.
#Nordicmade has recently launched a new project that is lead by Asia House, in partnership with TechBBQ, Maria 01, Icelandic Startups, Innovation Skåne, and Startup Extreme. The project is funded by Nordic Innovation and closely supported by the Nordic Innovation House Hong Kong.
The goal of the project is to enable startups and institutional stakeholders to showcase Nordic solutions and capabilities at major events in Hong Kong and Taiwan for the first time.
A unique opportunity for Nordic Healthtech startups
#NordicMade x Healthtech Showcasing in Asia will bridge this gap by inviting the most promising Nordic Healthtech high-growth companies and relevant ecosystem actors to some of the most important innovation conferences in Asia: RISE in Hong Kong (April 2020) and InnoVEX in Taiwan (June 2020). Additionally, it will showcase and connect the Nordic Health-tech ecosystem to relevant international stakeholders at SLUSH 2019 and TechBBQ 2020.
The #NordicMade Healthtech showcasing project is an important first step in promoting Nordic Healthtech startups in Asia. The Nordics have much to offer in this field, and much to benefit from interacting with Asia, yet our presence there is minimal, so far. — Peter Johansen, Project Manager at Asia House
The project will start the call for applications during Slush 2019. Stay tuned and read more info here.
If you are around during Slush, don’t miss out our second Taiwan X Finland Demo Day!
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