Web3 Fintech-focused, Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub Held the First Pitch Contest with Cathay Financial Holdings

TAIPEI, Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With Cathay Financial Holdings as the corporate partner, Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub held their first pitch contest this year titled "Ready. Set. Pitch! Web3 Innovation Fintech Challenge". Focused on web3 fintech, the pitch contest is the first of a two-part corporate innovation pitch contest in which 10 startups in total will be selected to fly over to Taiwan for a final Demo Day in November. The organizer has received applications from the whole of Asia region, Europe, the United States, and more, and 16 teams pitched at the contest on August 19th to compete for five spots to enter the finals.

As the corporate partner, Cathay Financial Holdings assigned blockchain application research and development management levels as part of the judging panel along with the other industry experts. The judging panel consists of Nicholas Yang, Head of Blockchain at Cathay Financial Holdings, Jessie Wang, Product Lead of Blockchain Team at Cathay Financial Holdings, Charlotte Jao, PR Director at Taiwan Association for Blockchain Ecosystem Innovation, and Leo Wu, COO of Rainmaking Innovation Taiwan.

Cathay Financial Holdings has been researching the application of blockchain technology to financial scenarios since 2018. And since 2020, it has led the industry in introducing and applying blockchain to the Internet of Vehicles, launching the "Internet of Electric Vehicles Consortium Blockchain". It has also worked with seven domestic banks and two major shipping companies in the formation of "Trade Insight Consortium Blockchain" to strengthen the risk control and management capabilities. Furthermore, it is working with 14 property insurance companies this year on the establishment of "Property Insurance Consortium Blockchain" which focuses on the application of compulsory and arbitrary insurance for automobiles to reduce the time for claim settlement. Cathay Financial Holdings is also the first in its industry to interview Richard Widmann, Head of Google Cloud Web3, on the introduction of the latest technologies and trends at the "2022 Cathay Pacific Financial Holdings Technology Annual Conference".

The five finalists are: 

• Ensuro - Ensuro is the first decentralized, licensed (re)insurer on a public blockchain. It uses smart contracts to curate competitive insurance portfolios.
• HedgeSPA - HedgeSPA helps users "manufacture" or directly outsource outperforming investment products based on choice of market/economic data, fundamental factors, user data, and sentiment scores from news/social media.
• MotionsCloud - MotionsCloud helps property and vehicle inspection teams to streamline and automate inspection processes, empowering inspection teams to be efficient and effective.
• Stratiphy - Stratiphy allows users to build their own trading strategy and discover great investments without any coding.
• Soft Solvers Solutions - Soft Solvers Solutions' flagship service Agiliux develops software for independent Insurance Brokers and Agencies to enhance distribution efficiencies and improve customer experience.

Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub will provide the finalists with roundtrip tickets to Taipei, accommodation during their stay in Taiwan, various networking opportunities, and customized corporate and mentor matchmaking. Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub will also assist the startups in applying to coworking spaces in Taipei and recommend them to participate in innovation and entrepreneurship-related activities to better help them soft land in Taipei. For the other teams that were not selected this time, Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub will also provide online matching opportunities to expand the scope of Taipei City's impact.

Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub expects to launch the second corporate innovation pitch contest in October, selecting another five startups. Follow Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub's Facebook fan page to learn more about Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub's latest news and information on Taipei City's startup ecosystem and industry dynamics.