May 28, 2020
Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
Mizuho Bank, Ltd. (President & CEO: Koji Fujiwara) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau (Director–General: Wei Chen Lin; STSP) and StarFab Accelerator (CEO: Amanda Liu; “StarFab”) related to startup support.
STSP is a government agency established in 1996 for the purpose of attracting and nurturing high–tech industries (mainly in electronics fields such as semiconductors) to create a “Silicon Valley” in Taiwan. The industrial park houses some of the most innovative factories of major Taiwanese companies, as well as a number of Japanese manufacturers supplying parts to these companies, thereby supporting the growth of core industries in Taiwan.
StarFab supports startups as an accelerator. It collaborated with STSP to launch the Taiwan AI Robotics Accelerator (TAIRA) aimed at supporting startups in the AI and robotics industries. During the first demonstration event held under this program, StarFab committed to support TWD 110 million (approximately JPY 400 million) worth of investment.
Based on this MOU, Mizuho will collaborate with STSP and StarFab to identify startups with promising technological innovations in areas such as 5G, AI, and medicine, and support the business growth of such startups through financing, business matching, provision of research labs, and other means.
Mizuho is committed to supporting the growth of startups in East Asia. In September 2019, we launched an accelerator program named “Mizuho Crowd Brain” for supporting the growth of startup companies throughout the Greater Bay Area, which includes Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. By connecting startups in East Asia with major companies in Japan through business matching and other events, we will continue supporting the business growth of startups and thereby contribute to the economic growth of Japan and East Asia as a whole.