Going Global Is Just the Beginning: What We’re Building with ChangeNOW
- Impact Hub Taipei
As ChangeNOW’s key ecosystem partner in Taiwan, Impact Hub Taipei is building stronger connections between Taiwan, Asia, and the global impact ecosystem.
In September 2026, Impact Hub Taipei signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ChangeNOW, opening a new chapter in a relationship we’ve been building over the past few years.
Under this partnership, we will serve as a key ecosystem partner and coordinator for ChangeNOW in Taiwan, while exploring opportunities to work together across other Asian markets.
For us, the partnership comes back to a question we’ve been thinking about for some time: What happens after an impact venture steps onto the global stage?
International summits, expos, pitches, and new connections all matter. But once the event is over, how do those conversations continue? What does it take to turn an introduction into a partnership, and eventually, an opportunity to enter a new market?
That’s where the real work begins.
From visibility to market entry
Over the past few years, we’ve supported Taiwanese impact ventures at international platforms including the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF), ChangeNOW in Paris, and more recently Waves of Change in southwestern France.
Through these experiences, one thing has become clear: international visibility can open doors, but it doesn’t automatically lead to market entry.
Take a venture working on ocean waste. The challenge may look similar across markets, but the policy environment, industry structure, and stakeholders can be very different. A solution that works in Taiwan still needs to understand the local context: Does the solution fit? Who is willing to pay for it? Who needs to be involved?
This is why we see internationalization as more than finding customers and partners. It also means understanding the ecosystem around a problem and finding the right partners to make a solution work locally.
For us, this is ecosystem building in practice.
Starting with the issue, not just the venture
Our approach to international engagement has also evolved.
In the beginning, much of our work focused on identifying Taiwanese impact ventures, preparing pitches, and organizing delegations. Over time, we started asking a different question: How can we help international partners understand not only the ventures coming from Taiwan, but also the issues Taiwan is working on?
At ChangeNOW, we began looking at how individual ventures could be part of a broader narrative about Taiwan’s impact ecosystem. At Waves of Change, where conversations focused on ocean challenges, this became even more tangible.
Starting with a shared issue gives international partners a clearer picture of the solutions emerging from Taiwan, the organizations and industries behind them, and where collaboration might be possible.
It also helps Taiwanese ventures find international partners working on the same challenges.
Today, when we curate a delegation, we consider both the market goals of individual ventures and how different solutions connect around shared issues. Our role is to understand those needs, identify the right platforms and partners, and help create opportunities that can continue beyond the event.
What changes with ChangeNOW?
Our partnership with ChangeNOW gives this work a longer-term framework.
In Taiwan, Impact Hub Taipei will help coordinate engagement with ChangeNOW across impact ventures, government agencies, companies, intermediaries, and other ecosystem partners.
For impact ventures, we want to support the journey before, during, and after an international engagement, from clarifying target markets and partnership needs, to connecting with companies and investors, and following up on opportunities afterwards.
We are also exploring Taiwan for Change session with ChangeNOW. Rather than presenting individual solutions alone, the idea is to bring together ventures, policy, industry, and social innovation around specific issues, giving international partners a fuller picture of how Taiwan is responding to shared challenges.
Our collaboration also extends into Asia. Together with ChangeNOW, we will explore connections with entrepreneurship support organizations, government agencies, foundations, and impact networks in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Another possible idea is Asia for Change session, bringing ventures and organizations from different Asian markets together around shared challenges, solutions, and market experience.
Some of these ideas are still at an early stage. We want to develop them with partners based on real needs and opportunities.
Building the next layer of support
As an Entrepreneurship Support Organization (ESO), our role also needs to evolve as the ventures we support go global.
If a Taiwanese impact venture enters a new market, it shouldn’t always have to start from zero. It should be able to find organizations that understand the local context, partners it can learn from, and networks that can help move opportunities forward.
Our partnership with ChangeNOW is one step toward building that cross-border support network, connecting what we’ve learned in Taiwan with knowledge, partners, and opportunities in other markets.
And we want that connection to work both ways. When international partners want to engage with Taiwan, we want to help them find the right ventures, organizations, and issues to connect with.
As the ventures we support go global, we need to grow with them.
That is the next step we’re building with ChangeNOW.
