Spotlight on Taiwan: Pioneering social innovation and building a sustainable future

Taiwan is famous for its vibrant night markets, rich history, stunning landscapes and the diverse Indigenous cultures that are at the forefront of our communities. Perhaps if you’ve had the opportunity to visit, you’re able to picture shop owners in the early morning taking to the streets to prepare for the day. Each individual, business, or organisation is an important part to the flourishing, vibrant communities across Taiwan.

Taiwan’s vibrant ecosystem for social innovation with huge support from the public sector

In recent years, Taiwan has made major strides to promote sustainable business practices and social well-being. Taiwan’s landscape of industrial and technological innovation fosters a rapidly developing environment of social impact organisations and sustainable initiatives, which support the social and solidarity economy.

Public and private partnerships are also helping foster this ecosystem. Through government policies and action plans that directly focus on social enterprises, Taiwan highlights the power of policy as it intersects with the growth of social enterprises. In 2014, Taiwan created the Social Enterprise Action Plan and has since created the Social Innovation Action Plan 1.0 (2018-2022) and Social Innovation Action Plan 2.0 (2023-2026). These plans intend to support social enterprise development through different means,  including policy, funding, collaboration, ecosystem building, education and technology. By connecting government, businesses and social innovation organisations, we aim to promote social change, create quantifiable and scalable social impact and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This climate creates commercial and corporate responsibility, encouraging businesses to prioritisze sustainability. This opens room for cross-industry collaboration, while also encouraging “environment,” “social,” and “corporate governance” initiatives, otherwise known as ESGs.

Impact Hub Taipei – a vibrant ecosystem builder to making impact happen locally

At Impact Hub Taipei, we work to uplift our incredible social enterprises, who are making a significant, positive impact in Taiwan, to a global stage. Impact Hub Taipei plays a major role in developing this ecosystem and helping foster impact development. We were founded in 2015 because we saw people who cared about their communities and who had the solutions to make change but often lacked resources and support.e believe that sustainable investment in our community requires everyone to play a role. Our mission is to cultivate a support network that nurtures social enterprises committed to ethical and sustainable practices. Over the last decade, we have established a unique, robust ecosystem for social innovation in Taiwan by partnering with governments, corporations and social organisations. 

We collaborate and work directly with different enterprises to help them reach their full potential and continue to grow as a new business. Through our Incubation and Acceleration program, we host different bootcamps, workshops and facilitate expert mentorship opportunities. Additionally, at our community hub, we host numerous events and opportunities for social enterprises to collaborate. By providing a space for social enterprises to thrive, Impact Hub Taipei is influencing social innovation and change. To date, we have welcomed 160+ member organisations, engaged over 400,000+ event participants and incubated 180+ teams. 

Taiwan’s social enterprises have a diverse foundation to support the needs of our community. One focus is people. Whether it is mental health services,  digital design and helping companies modernise, or diversified language courses, these social enterprises are working to help the community and making a positive change. One way social enterprises are shifting markets is through redefining consumerism. For example, Story Wear, founded in 2018 and women-owned, is Taiwan’s pioneering zero waste fashion company. They recognise the fashion industry’s major role as the second largest polluter in the world and seek to tackle the problem through zero-waste fashion. Story Wear has made it to the global stage, revolutionising sustainable, quality fashion that is timeless and incorporates elements of Taiwanese culture.

Another focus is planet. We work with many social enterprises that create unique solutions to help the climate, from recycled materials to make cat litter, alternative and sustainable farming and fishing, to upcycling waste. Monster BioTech is redefining how we look at waste. They developed the “Black Soldier Fly Biological Circulation System Module” for people and companies to collaborate and realise the sustainable use of resources. The Black Soldier Fly is able to take food waste and create materials needed for everyday products. By partnering with different companies, they can distribute these alternative materials. Monster BioTech’s vision is to eventually have all waste be recyclable and turned into new resources. They also work to leave no one behind in this process, as they believe that everyone’s small efforts play a major role. 

Since our inception, we’ve focused on creating a supportive space and community, striving to incubate teams and talents in social innovation through numerous programs. Both Story Wear and Monster BioTech partnered with us as members of the Vision Future Incubator in collaboration with the Tzu Chi Foundation, which provided capacity-building opportunities and resources, as well as platforms to facilitate collaboration and access to public awareness. We believe that cross-industry collaboration among stakeholders is essential for building a sustainable future. As an intermediary, we have helped create diverse social initiatives and introduced sustainable practices to different corporations, promoting the concept of business as a force for good in Taiwan. This development has supported stakeholders in the overall entrepreneurial ecosystem, yielding significant social impact.

10 Years of impact: Forward and beyond

As Impact Hub Taipei approaches its 10th anniversary, we believe that Taiwan is a vital player in global sustainability efforts and we are dedicated to building its social innovation ecosystem. 2025 also marks 10 years of our connection and partnership with SEWF.

We are committed to expanding our impact and fostering global partnerships. The upcoming SEWF25 will be a hybrid gathering for the social enterprise community, providing a platform for entrepreneurs and changemakers worldwide to learn, connect and inspire one another. Leaders from across the world will explore ground-breaking ideas, connect with purpose-driven leaders and take part in shaping a more sustainable and fairer world.  

From our first steps becoming part of the SEWF community a decade ago, to now co-hosting the event, we have learned, grown and built partnerships to showcase Taiwan’s social innovation and social enterprises to the world. Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey! 

Looking forward, we want to strengthen Impact Hub Taipei as the leading Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESO) in Taiwan. We are excited to act as a gateway to connect Taiwan’s unique social enterprises and social innovation organisations to the global network. We hope that this collaboration and support will also help leave a legacy to support as many social enterprises in Taiwan to become People and Planet First verified. 

Welcome to SEWF 2025!

Impact Hub Taipei is excited for social entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers and social innovation promoters from all over the world during our tenth year as an organisation to gather in Taiwan to explore breakthrough sustainable development strategies and actions. We believe that hosting SEWF25 in Taipei will increase the awareness of the work of different social enterprises across Asia Pacific, while also highlighting Taiwan as a leader in the social enterprise and social innovation sector. 

In October 2025, we invite everyone to join us at SEWF25 to get a taste of Taipei and , of course, collaborate with global social entrepreneurs and partners dedicated to shaping a sustainable future! We hope that SEWF in Taipei will inspire future changemakers across Asia Pacific and the world.

Get involved through purchasing tickets, nominating speakers, or join us as a sponsor or partner. Let’s make this an unforgettable event together!