AI Fund, a venture studio that builds startups alongside entrepreneurs, today announced it is establishing a new Taiwan hub. This will serve as a base from which AI Fund and several of its portfolio companies will grow their presence in Asia.
Leading AI Fund’s Asia presence in Taiwan is newly appointed General Manager, Jill Shih. With a broad and deep background spanning software engineering, product management, and user experience design, Shih brings a wealth of expertise leading teams and companies to her role, including executive leadership roles at Good Finance, ZA, and Cheetah Mobile. She will work closely with corporate partners and founders to build successful startups.
“We are investing in Taiwan because of its vibrant tech ecosystem and talented workforce. We hope to support Taiwan’s corporations, tech community and startup ecosystem by working together to build new AI startups,” said Andrew Ng, Managing General Partner of AI Fund. “Jill is an outstanding product leader with experience across major companies in the US and Asia. She will lead our work to build companies in Taiwan and help our existing companies expand into this dynamic market.”
Above: AI Fund Managing General Partner Andrew Ng with Jill Shih, the newly appointed General Manager for AI Fund’s Taiwan division. This hub will serve as a base from with AI Fund and several of its portfolio companies will grow their presence in Asia.
“As a family office investor, AI Fund stands out not only for returns but for its commitment to social responsibility. Their passion for leveraging AI to create positive change in society is truly inspiring,” said Peggy Cheng, COO of Authentic Heart and Executive Director of the Ming Yi Foundation.
As a venture studio, AI Fund acts as a minor co-founder, partnering with entrepreneurs and with large companies to form new companies together. AI Fund’s company building process starts with a rigorous validation process, where we work with partners to identify numerous ideas before selecting the most promising ones to pursue. Then a team consisting of business and product leaders, tech experts, and the new company founder/CEO converge to transform the idea into a new company.
AI Fund then invests pre-seed capital into the company and supports its 0 to 1 growth with co-founder matchmaking, recruiting core team members, fundraising introductions, and product development support. The fund also makes follow-on investments beyond initial pre-seed capital and offers ongoing support around other areas such as fundraising and AI talent acquisition.
Some of these startups come about through AI Fund’s corporate partners. These large companies bring deep knowledge of their industries and understand areas that are ripe for innovation. When combined with AI Fund’s expertise in AI and new business formation, these startups begin with a strong tailwind propelling them towards growth faster.
AI Fund invites corporations interested in leveraging AI to grow their businesses or to co-build AI startups to contact Jill Shih through the contact page on the AI Fund website.
