Two Taiwanese industry giants join forces to establish "CHT-PCH NO.1," a venture capital fund supporting Taiwan's budding startup ecosystem

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Media OutReach - March 29, 2018 -  ^[1]Chunghwa Telecom Group, the chief telecommunications company in Taiwan, and PChome Online Inc., the largest ecommerce group in Taiwan, today announced the creation of joint venture capital fund CHT-PCH NO.1, focusing on the support of e-commerce, Internet Digital Life technology startups. With a total investment of NT$400 million and future plans to invest more capital, Chunghwa Telecom and PChome are providing necessary resources to assist in developing Taiwan's early stage entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Two Taiwanese industry giants join forces to establish "CHT-PCH NO.1". From left to right: Mr. Yu Cheng, Chairman and CEO of Chunghwa Telecom, Mr. Hung-Tze Jan, Chairman of PChome.

Aligning with the Executive Yuan's 2018 initiative to cultivate Taiwan's venture investment environment, this partnership will help sow the seeds for a new generation of Taiwanese unicorn startups. This national vision that is deeply important to both Chunghwa Telecom and PChome brought the two companies together for the first time in 20 years to engage in in-depth capital and business cooperation in the new territories such as AI, Big Data, FinTech and Intelligent Logistics.

In addition to their monetary investment, Chunghwa Telecom and PChome will provide the selected Taiwanese startups access to both Chunghwa Telecom and PChome's platform resources on their services and contents. Supplemented by the huge resources both companies bring, the startups will be able to create more diversified service applications and further increase their success of breaking into the broader Asian international market.

Mr. Yu Cheng, Chairman and CEO of Chunghwa Telecom, stated, "This partnership is the first step in deepening strategic collaboration between Chunghwa Telecom and PChome. We aim to combine the professional resources of both parties to significantly invest in Taiwan's new innovative digital economy. With Taiwan's startups offering creativity, innovative service, and fresh technology, and our partnership with PChome offering resources based in Taiwan and facing international markets such as wider Asia, we will advance the vision of making Taiwan a digital economy engine and innovative industry leader."

Mr. Hung-Tze Jan, Chairman of PChome, said: "CHT-PCH NO.1 will combine the significant capital and resources of two industries, telecommunications and e-commerce, to nurture Taiwanese startups. We believe that new businesses need more than capital to succeed. That's why we have chosen to give the selected startups access to PChome's open data and website traffic of 10 million members. These additional resources will broaden the startups' experimental field and allow them to refine products and technology that resonate with consumers and businesses alike."

The CHT-PCH NO.1 fund will commission investment research and evaluation by the company's joint-venture management consultancy company to identify promising startups in the e-commerce and Internet Digital Life technology. These digitally-focused startups, including those specializing in Internet connectivity, FinTech, on-demand services, smart healthcare, big data, artificial intelligence technologies, and more, will be chosen in accordance with the internal procedures of both parties.

The potential to collaborate in emerging areas as smart logistics is of immense value to both parties and will further cement the relationship between PChome and Chunghwa Telecom. After ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations, it is expected that the establishment of the fund will be completed and actively seeking promising investment candidates in the second quarter of 2018.

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom (TAIEX 2412, NYSE: CHT) ("Chunghwa" or "the Company") is Taiwan's largest integrated telecommunications services company that provides fixed-line, mobile, broadband, and internet services. The Company also provides information and communication technology services to corporate customers with its big data, information security, cloud computing and IDC capabilities, and is expanding its business into innovative technology services such as IoT, AI, etc. In recent years, Chunghwa has been actively involved in corporate social responsibility and has won domestic and international awards and recognition. For more information, please visit our website at www.cht.com.tw. ^[2]

About PChome Online

PChome Online Inc. (8044-TT) is the largest e-commerce, online service and online payment group in Taiwan and was publicly listed in January 2005. In 2017, our consolidated revenues reached NT$29.4 billion. Under PChome Online Group, there are: "PChome24h Shopping," Taiwan's No.1 B2C shopping site offering a 24-hour guaranteed delivery service; "Ruten Auction," the No. 1 C2C marketplace; "PChome Store," the No.1 B2B2C marketplace that helps SMEs enter into the e-commerce industry; "Personal Store", Taiwan's largest mobile marketplace. PChome Online Inc.collectively offers more than 5 million products, of which 2 million products are guaranteed by a 24-hour delivery service in Taiwan. It was the first ecommerce company to offer a 6-hour delivery service in Taipei city.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} www.cht.com.tw (www.cht.com.tw)