Will the Next Unicorn Come From Taiwan?|M17赴美掛牌4天下市 台灣獨角獸難產?

M17 is a Taiwanese company that is Asia's largest live-streaming platform. Several days ago, to many people's surprise, its attempt at a U.S. initial public offering had failed. In response, The National Development Council says, fostering new industries requires not only capital, technology and talents, but also needs international markets, and for companies that are not yet a certain size, listing in the United States could be potentially risky.


On June 7, live-streaming platform M17 listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Just four days later, the listing was removed.

Perhaps several of M17's executives felt they were already very familiar with the United States, and their self-confidence may have led to some mistakes.

The National Development Council says there are opportunities for companies in Taiwan's new industries to become unicorns. In fact, there are several such companies that could develop into unicorns. Electric scooter company Gogoro is a possibility, as it is seeking to expand worldwide. Meanwhile, AI technology company Appier has already received funding from international sources and is growing rapidly. In a 2017 report, American research organizations said there are only 221 companies in the world that can be considered unicorns. They have a combined market value of US$784.2 billion. The U.S. has the most unicorns, and China has the second most. Taiwan does not have any. The Financial Supervisory Commission's Securities and Futures Bureau says it is already promoting a plan to help companies from new industries list on stock exchanges.

The companies have to meet market value, net value, revenues and cash flow standards. Although they may not be profitable, we will still allow them to be listed.

The NDC says the advantages of Taiwan's new industries are their creativity and talents, and what they need to do is expand internationally. If this occurs, then the next unicorn may emerge in Taiwan.